[Flaming Conservative]

Amen to that, brother. So far, my only disagreement with you is about the presence of ghosts, especially when you said you led one “to the light”. There are no dead people’s spirits or souls wandering around. What you encountered was demons, masquerading as ghosts. Even if there WERE ghosts, you could not lead them to the light. When a Christian dies, his spirit goes immediately to the LORD. (To be absent from the body, is to be present with the LORD”). At the rapture, the dead bodies are retrieved, because they must be exchanged for a new body. but our spirits are with the LORD. Don’t ask me why he needs our dead bodies, except that Jesus is now flesh and bone, having given all of his blood for us, so perhaps he makes our new bodies out of the old. I do not know.

[Elsie]

When a Christian dies, his spirit goes immediately to the LORD. (To be absent from the body, is to be present with the LORD”)

"Quote" it correctly:

2 Corinthians 5:8

(ASV)  we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.

(CJB)  We are confident, then, and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and come to our home with the Lord.

(DARBY)  we are confident, I say, and pleased rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

(ESV)  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

(KJV)  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

(NASB)   we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

(NIV)   We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

(NKJV)   We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

(RSV)  We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

 

 

Leaving out man's PREFERENCE when 'quoting' this verse leaves a vastly different impression in the minds of people.

Nothing indicates that a person WILL be with the Lord immediately after death.  

 

This begins in childhood when the kid is told that little Fluffy is now 'with Jesus' when her cat is flattened by a car,

or that Gramma is 'with Jesus' when she died.