Back in the 50's there was a well known radio host/comedian/song writer
in Hollywood named Russ 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 Russ in and they talked about 5 am at which point Russ
dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God.
But that is not the end of the story. Russ 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. Russ answered simply, "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 Russ'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 Russ 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 Russ Hamblin was Billy Graham.
And now you know "the rest of the story."
author unknown
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