The history of the song:
"It Is No Secret"

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 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 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?" 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.

Share this with your friends ... I did! (Thanks Mary for forwarding this treasure 8/10/2007).

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IT IS NO SECRET

The chimes of time ring out the news
Another day is through
Someone slipped and fell
Was that someone you?

You may have longed for added strength
Your courage to renew
Do not be disheartened
For I have news for you

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 pardon you
It is no secret what God can do

There is no night for in His light
You never walk alone
Always feel at home
Wherever you may go

There is no power can conquer you
While God is on your side
Take Him at His promise
Don't run away and hide

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 pardon you
It is no secret what God can do

Recorded by:

Stuart Hamblen - 1952

Eddy Arnold - 1955	Elvis Presley - 1957	Pat Boone - 1957
Jim Reeves - 1958	Jo Stafford & Gordon McCrae - 1962	Kate Smith - 1965
Cliff Richard - 1967	Jimmy Dean - 1968	Ferlin Husky - 1968

Also recorded by:

The Alexander Brothers	Bass Mountain Boys	Dierks Bentley	The Blackwood Brothers
Roy Clark	Lonnie Donegan	Cahal Dunne	Sister Elizabeth Eustis
Rev. Clay Evans	The Four Pennies	Jane Froman	J. Burton Fuller
Bill Gaither	Owen Gray	Rev. Billy Graham	Andy Griffith
Guy & Ralna	Engelbert Humperdinck	The Ink Spots	Rev. Fleetwood E. Irving
Mahalia Jackson	Vern Jackson	Joni James	George Jones
Larry Kendrick	Cristy Lane	The Lee Boys	The Light Crust Doughboys
Josef Locke	Anne Murray	Jim Nabors	Willie Nelson
Tom Netherton	Daniel O'Donnell	Orion	Tommy Overstreet
Roy Rogers	Harry Secombe	Jean Shepard	Margo Smith
Hank Snow	Sons Of The SanJoaquin	Wynn Stewart	B.J. Thomas
Ernest Tubb	Slim Whitman	Chubby Wise	Mac Wiseman
Tammy Wynette

and many others.