Back in the 50's....

Back in the 50's there was a well known radio host/comedian/song writer in  Hollywood named 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 faker." 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 2AMdemanding 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 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 longtime 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?" and  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.