UNSHACKLED! Audio Dramas

A teenager during the sixties, Larry becomes rebellious, breaking rules, stealing and doing drugs. Small crimes become bigger and he lands in Florida prison for burglary. Out again, he lives on the streets, eating at rescue missions. Another crime puts him in Georgia prison, and he tries to rehabilitate himself. Strangers visit, sharing Jesus and send their pastor who explains salvation. Larry cries out to God and grows in faith through Bible study. Now married with grown children and in ministry.

An Australian, perceived injustice leads Tom into hatred of authority that focuses on police. Drinking releases his rage. Marriage doesn’t quell his violence. He sets fire to police cars. Arrested, he’s treated at psychiatric hospital. One arson attempts burns him badly and he is confined to a hospital for the criminally insane. Wife stands by him. He escapes, is captured and then an inmate begins reading the Bible to Tom. Released, he is discipled and born again. Now in ministry.

What does it mean to be a man? Al’s father is a man’s man who works hard and drinks harder. Al hates his father for getting drunk and beating Mother; yet he loves his father who stands up for Al when he gets in trouble. At age seventeen Al intervenes and hits his dad for beating Al’s mother. When Al’s sister invites him to church, he goes out of curiosity and responds to the gospel. Now a pastor, he sees that man is someone who follows the Lord and keeps His commandments.

Rough childhood leaves Diane hungering for love. She meets Greg and wants to quit school, but her dad persuades her to graduate. Diane and Greg marry, but he doesn’t give up drugs. Friends find Christ, and Diane goes to church but Greg refuses. When Diane gets pregnant, he insists she get an abortion. Their marriage fails as her love turns to hate. Then she is saved. First part ends when a friend and she meet for Bible study at home, which Greg hates.

His parents’ divorce convinces Greg that children break up marriages. Raised by his unloving father, drugs become his mother. Greg hungers for love and find it in Diane. After their marriage, he spends all their money on drugs and insists she abort their baby, turning her against him. He hears the gospel driving home, and marvels that Diane is suddenly more loving. She is saved. Greg overhears the gospel as Diane and friend have Bible study, and he prays for salvation. Unable to have children, they adopted a baby girl. Now serve as missionaries in New Zealand.

In high school Henry falls in love with Lois, who loves the Lord while his family mistrusts church and Christians. They marry and he tries church for a while, but the world is more important. As a truck driver, he’s gone a lot, suffers illness, wife urges him to trust in the Lord. He refuses. Children grow up and marriage falls apart. Henry tries suicide, talks divorce. At a truck stop, a man invites Henry to gospel service and gives him a tract. Henry reads, prays and gives his life to Christ. Marriage restored, he’s now in ministry to truckers.

Bill’s explosive temper results from older brothers who bully him. He quits church in high school and starts drinking. Marries sweetheart, but drinking and jealousy erode their marriage. Puffed with pride, he opens karate school and soaks up public attention, neglecting his wife. He writes and travels but is losing his wife. A client leads his wife to Christ, but after a blowup, she asks Bill to leave, then tells him to invite Jesus into his heart. He does, and their marriage is healed. They now run a Christian ministry.

Having grown up in a Christian home, Tyler thinks he’s okay with God in spite of being addicted to pornography and drinking. Then he slips into drugs, including cocaine. He dates a girl who loves the Lord and who finally breaks up with him because he is lost and won’t turn to Christ. A friend tells Tyler to talk with his pastor, who leads him to Christ. After he shakes his addictions, his girlfriend and he marry. He leads his siblings to the Lord and today serves in evangelism at his church.

Christina’s schizophrenia begins manifesting as a teenager. She has never known her father. Feeling unaccepted by her family, she attempts suicide. Alienated from all social life, she tries psychiatry but withdraws into fantasy world. Reading the Bible, she senses that Jesus is the key, but paranoia sends her to psychiatric hospital where she again tries suicide. Medication and a Christian doctor restore her to normalcy. She hears the gospel on radio, calls the pastor who leads her to Christ. Now married and writing Christian books.

Not expected to live at birth, Mary Jane is slow to walk and talk and diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Her parents pray and don’t give up, but teach her patiently. She even learns to ride a bike and does well in school; but she hates being thought of as mentally retarded. Active in church, she wants to be a missionary to China. In Bible school she commits her life to Christ. Not allowed to be a missionary, Mary Jane gets a job but sinks into self-pity for a time. Part I ends as she is about to meet her husband.