Back in the
50's there was a well known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named
Stuart Hamblin 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".
And along came a young preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblin had him
on his radio show, presumably to poke fun at him. And to gather more material,
Hamblin 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 Hamblin 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 2 am. Demanding that the
preacher pray for him. But the preacher refused, saying, "This is between you
and God 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,
quit everything that was "fun". And 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, an old friend named John took him aside and
told him all your troubles started when you "got religion" and asked if it was
worth it all. Stuart answer was simple, "Yes".
Then his friend
said, "You liked your booze so much. Don't you ever miss it?" And the 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 Stuart 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." etc...
By the way, the friend was John Wayne, and the young preacher who refused
to pray for Stuart Hamblin was Billy Graham.
STUART HAMBLIN |
|