elders he has no obligation to obey their rules, their rules do not provide salvation only a saveguard against worldliness, however he still has an obligation to obey Gods word as it is written in the Bible and this one can do privately. Its just hard and lonely to do it alone without the support of the brethren. But history is full of stories of the faithful who were in the same boat of being believers far away from any assembly and having to fellowship alone or only with their nuclear family. If however he is not being obedient to Gods Word, then yes he should be fulled with fear. For death stalks all of us and it has a 100% catch rate. Daryl, Thank you for sharing with us what must have been one of the most difficult things you have ever faced. I appreciate what you said about man's guidelines  versus God's guidelines. I, for one, want to follow only God's guidelines because He is the One we will all stand before one day to be judged! (Hebrews 4:13) Though, according to I John, it is possible to know without a doubt of your eternal destiny, I completely understand what you are saying about folks that are confident they have salvation, and yet they live ungodly life styles because, after all, we are all "under grace" now. They seem to forget that living under grace, however, does not mean we have more freedoms, it should actually cause us