UNSHACKLED! Audio Dramas

Marvin grows up in a poor share-cropper family that loves music. He goes forward for salvation at fifteen but falls in with rowdy boys after the family moves to Florida. In the army he plays in a band and learns to drink. Afterward he forms his own band, writes songs and has a major country music star record one of his songs. He marries and is increasingly conflicted about the lyrics of country music. Asked to be a music director at his church, he turns away from the world to serve the Lord.

Morris grows up in a Christian family, but he longs for affirmation and acceptance that he receives from classmates when he sings. He dreams of singing with the big bands, cuts class to drive to Chicago to hear stars sing. He is disappointed in love while he’s in the navy, and disillusionment grows the longer he’s in the world. His parents pray for him. He gets drunk and spends a night in jail. He finally agrees to hear an evangelist after which he gets alone and prays for salvation, where 1st part ends.

Morry marries Jean and they raise five children while being active in ministry. Sons Craig and Brent rebel, smoking, drinking and using drugs. Brent surrenders to Christ at fourteen and Craig goes forward but can’t quit using drugs. Brent takes his brother to a Christian movie where Craig gets saved. Both brothers are now pastors. At 75 Morry has a stroke and lives in a nursing home. A soldier in Brent’s church is captured in Iraq and the story ends with Brent’s sermon on our hope in Christ.

Fred is one of nine children whose parents work hard but live in poverty in the squatter’s area of Manila. Fred’s mom begins gambling and loses her small salary, which infuriates her husband. Fred is drawn into gambling, too. The family is Catholic but his mother gets saved at a friend’s church and pressures the family to get saved. Fred thinks money is the answer to life’s problems and begins commerce college. The first part ends with his salvation.

Fred grows in faith, witnessing to classmates, standing up to teachers. He leaves commerce college to tackle Bible school where he learns to submit to God by submitting to unfair authority. He marries Suzette and they serve in a communist infested area, receiving death threats and no support. Fred suffers periodic paralysis and a heart attack from an untreated thyroid condition, but he labors on serving the Lord.

Stan grows up in a semi-orthodox family of Jews. His mother dies when he is twelve, causing him to question God. At eighteen he is arrested on felony drug charges. Christians pray for him, his girlfriend gives him a Bible and ultimately the charges are dismissed. Stan goes to college where fraternity friends and an older woman continue witnessing. He prays for salvation and asks God for a sign. The next evening he has dinner with Corrie Ten Boom and has his sign. He now has a ministry sharing Jewish festivals with the church.

The youngest of four boys who played country music on radio, Clayton grows up longing to be a country music star. His brother encourages him to read the Bible, which he does, a chapter a day; but he is not saved. After graduation, he goes to Nashville with friends and slowly rises to achieve stardom. He marries a woman who is a bigamist and they have a daughter. He is saved but divorces her and leaves country music to become a preacher and evangelist.

Bob’s mother abandons her three children to live with Bob’s father, who is an alcoholic gambler. Bob and his younger brother are born and grow up with fighting and fear. Two of his mother’s children return home, and his older half-brother teaches him to steal. Both boys are required to leave school at sixteen to work. The family goes to mass every week, but live sinful lives. Bob works at a machine shop with a believer who gives him a Bible and answers questions about salvation. First part ends with Bob’s salvation.

Bob’s mother rails against his decision for Christ, mocking him and making him leave home. He serves in the navy, returns home to work in the machine shop, but decides to go into ministry. He marries Jean, witnesses to his family, but they are unreceptive. His older brother, abandoned at birth, finds the family, but Bob’s mother rejects him. This brother and Bob’s younger brother die as well as Bob’s father, who prays the sinner’s prayer before death. Retired now, Bob contrasts his life with his older brother, now in prison, and his mother, still unyielding at 94.

Tom’s parents have problems: his dad drinks and rarely comes home; his mother, a manic-depressive, slides into mental illness as his father becomes unfaithful. Tom and siblings live with an aunt when his mother is hospitalized. The aunt and uncle provide guidance and discipline, taking the siblings to church. Tom falls in love but graduates and becomes a merchant sailor on the Great Lakes, planning to marry. His girlfriend drops him, leaving him depressed. The first part ends with Tom in the Navy and his aunt telling him to get a relationship with Christ.