A True Story…

Back in the 50’s there was a well known radio
Host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named
Carl Stuart Hamblen who was noted for his drinking,
womanizing, partying, etc.
One of his bigger hits at the time was
“I won’t go hunting with you Jake, 
But I’ll go chasing women.”
One day, along came a young preacher holding
A tent revival. Hamblen had him on his radio show
Presumably to poke fun at him.
In order to gather more material for his show,
Hamblen showed up at one of the revival meetings.Early in the service the preacher announced, “There is one man
In this audience who is a big fake.” There were probably others
Who thought the same thing, but Hamblen was convinced that he
Was the one the preacher was talking about (some would call that 
Conviction) but he was having none of that. Still the words continued to haunt him until a couple of nights
Later he showed up drunk at the preacher’s hotel door around
2AM demanding that the preacher pray for him! But the
Preacher refused, saying, “This is between you and God and
And I’m not going to get in the middle of it.” But he did invite
Stuart in and they talked until about 5 AM at which point
Stuart dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God. But that is not the end of the story. Stuart quit drinking,
Quit chasing women, quit everything that was ‘fun.’
Soon he began to lose favor with the Hollywood crowd. 
He was ultimately fired by the radio station when
He refused to accept a beer company as a sponsor.
Hard times were upon him. He tried writing a couple
Of “Christian” songs but the only one that had
Much success was “This Old House”,
Written for his friend Rosemary Clooney.
As he continued to struggle, a long time friend named
John took him aside and told him, “All your troubles
Started when you ‘got religion,’ was it worth it all?”
Stuart answered simply, “Yes.”Then his friend asked, “You liked your booze so much,
Don’t you ever miss it?” His answer was, “No.”John
Then said, “I don’t understand how you could give it
Up so easily…” And Stuart’s response was, “It’s no big secret.
All things are possible with God.” To this John said,
“That’s a catchy phrase. You should write a song about it.” 
And as they say, “The rest is history.”
The song Carl Stuart Hamblen wrote was “It Is No Secret.” 

“It is no secret what God can do.
What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.
With arms wide open, He’ll welcome you.

It is no secret, what God can do….”


By the way… The friend was John Wayne.
And the young preacher who refused to pray for Stuart Hamblen?
…That was Billy Graham.

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Watchwoman: It seems that about 99% of this is completely and verifiably as true. Some of the story about the radio program may be in question. ▬ Donna Calvin
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Source: snopes.com: It Is No Secret ••• 
Did Billy Graham and John Wayne have a hand in the creation of the song ‘It Is No Secret’?
Carl Stuart Hamblen (the e-mailed account misidentifies him as Russ Hamblin) composed and recorded “It Is No Secret” in 1950. Born in Texas in 1908,…
…hundred songs to his credit, before he passed away in California in 1989. Hamblen was a heavy drinker who swore off demon rum and made religion a central…
…Various biographies of both Hamblen and Graham support the claim of the songwriter’s having gone to Dr. Graham’s hotel room and insisted he be prayed…
Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:13:47 GMT http://www.snopes.com/religion/hamblen.asp 

Carl Stuart Hamblen’s father Dr. James Henry Hamblen {pictured above (left) converses with Dr. Ezekiel Vargas of Mexico (right)} (1877-1971) was a lifelong Texan, a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Texas, an evangelist and revivalist preacher, and subsequent to 1946, was the founder of the Evangelical Methodist Church.

Biography

After a long career as an itinerant Methodist circuit preacher and pastor, Dr. James Hamblen  served as first general superintendent of the fundamentalist and missions-centered Evangelical Methodist Church during the denomination’s founding, and was pastor of First Evangelical Methodist Church, Abilene, Texas, for several decades.

His son, Carl Stuart Hamblen, was a composer and singer, penning and performing popular songs “This Ole House” and “It Is No Secret (What God Can Do);” and in 1952 he ran for president of the United States on the Prohibition Party ticket.

 


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