Mt 9:24
[Jesus] said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at Him.

There was a time when I would laugh at anyone that would substitute the word "sleep" for death, but I have laid aside this arrogance and embraced what the scripture makes plain.

Yes, to be absent from the body is to be present from the Lord ... we all agree, no? The question is WHEN we are absent from the body and whether or not we sleep in the earth upon death awaiting the resurrection, or if we are immediately absent from the body when we reach room-temperature.

HONESTLY, what does the Bible say?

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

CONTRAST that to saying this:

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are already with the Lord. . For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall have already risen just after they died. . Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. ~ 1 FAKEThessalonians 4:15-17

I changed what was underlined ... to match what I used to believe .. and it make NO SENSE at all!

It is written:

Mt 27:52
The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

Is the Lord Jesus a liar?

John 11:11-13
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

Was He really not the firstfruits from the dead? Have others gone before Him?

1Co 15:20
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.