The dead in christ?

[CindysRain]

Every christian I know, believes they go to heaven when they die. I know that Paul says he would rather be absent from the body and present with the lord, BUT that's just what he wanted. He never says that's how it is.

In Luke, the beggar did go straight to heaven.

Luke 16:22 it says "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;"

But, according to these verses, the dead in christ are still in the graves, or the sea.

I Thess. 4:16 - 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:

Rev. 20:13 - And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

**Ashes to ashes, dust to dust - dead bodies decompose. What the hell is god rising? And exactly "what" in the grave will hear his voice?

As a christian, I desperately tried to reconcile all this in my mind, but it's impossible. The ridiculously obvious contradictions in these verses played a role in my deconversion. Feels good to get it out of my system.