When a Christian dies do they go to heaven right away or do they go when Jesus returns and the trumpet sounds?

Please listen to this man's experience:

http://www.freecdtracts.com/testimony/gary_wood.ht...

I also recommend Don Piper's book "90 Minutes in Heaven"

"So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."

II Corinthians 5:6-8

Before the death of Jesus there were two holding places for those that died. Abraham's bosom which was described by Jesus as a place for the righteous and also another place of torment for the sinners.

After Jesus died His spirit went first into the lower parts of the earth (Eph 4:9) to preach deliverance to all the captives (Luke 4:18) (Ps 68:18) (Eph 4:8) and he set them free.

Today when a believer dies they are passed from death unto life in the spirit with God. The unbelievers and evil doers are confined to a place of torment (hell) until the final judgment before the great white throne (Rev 20:11) when all the wicked will then be cast into the lake of fire.(Rev 20:14)

Eccl 12:7

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

1 Peter 1:24-25 (NASB95)

24 For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,

25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.

Hebrews 9:27 (NASB95)

27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

Acts 17:30-31 (NASB95)

30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

Philippians 1:21-23 (NASB95)

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

*** ie p. 22 What Happens to the Soul at Death? ***

What Happens to the Soul at Death?

“The doctrine that the human soul is immortal and will continue to exist after man’s death and the dissolution of his body is one of the cornerstones of Christian philosophy and theology.”—“NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA.”

THE above-quoted reference work, however, admits that “the notion of the soul surviving after death is not readily discernible in the Bible.” What, then, does the Bible really teach about what happens to the soul at death?

The Dead Are Unconscious

2 The condition of the dead is made clear at Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10, where we read: “The dead know nothing . . . There is no pursuit, no plan, no knowledge or intelligence, within the grave.” (Moffatt) Death, therefore, is a state of nonexistence. The psalmist wrote that when a person dies, “he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.”—Psalm 146:4.

3 So the dead are unconscious, inactive. When pronouncing sentence upon Adam, God stated: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) Before God formed him from the dust of the ground and gave him life, Adam did not exist. When he died, Adam returned to that state. His punishment was death—not a transfer to another realm.

The Soul Can Die

4 When Adam died, what happened to his soul? Well, remember that in the Bible the word “soul” often simply refers to a person. So when we say that Adam died, we are saying that the soul named Adam died. This might sound unusual to a person who believes in the immortality of the soul. However, the Bible states: “The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) Leviticus 21:1 speaks of “a deceased soul” (a “corpse,” Jerusalem Bible). And Nazirites were told not to come near “any dead soul” (“a dead body,” Lamsa).—Numbers 6:6.

5 A similar reference to the soul is found at 1 Kings 19:4. A severely distressed Elijah “began to ask that his soul might die.” Likewise, Jonah “kept asking that his soul might die, and he repeatedly said: ‘My dying off is better than my being alive.’” (Jonah 4:8) And Jesus used the phrase “to kill a soul,” which The Bible in Basic English renders “to put to death.” (Mark 3:4) So the death of the soul simply means the death of the person.

The Bible says apart from the body, face to face with the Lord.

Go with what scripture says, not by what people think.

Jesus told the thief on the cross, this day you will be with me in paradise. This day!

Paul was stoned at Lystra and the Bible says He went to the third Heaven, and He claimed to speak with the tongues of men and angels.

They go to Heaven to be with the Lord, death isnt a state of unconciousness, our personality (souls) ends up in either two spiritual places Heaven or Hell.

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

When a believer dies, they are carried away by angels to heaven.

Scriptural verification:

Luke 16:22 - And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Okay I am going to try to explain this, but it is complicated, so bear with me please.

God has given us the illusion of separateness. So is time also an illusion.

In reality we are now and always have been safe in God's arms. There is no time difference between someone who died a hundred years ago and someone who will die in 10 years.

We all awake and join the light that is God.

They go straight away.