The greek word used in Mark's Gospel is ouranou and it refers to the sky. So the meaning of the verse is that the elect will be gathered from all over. The exact same word is used in Matthew 6:26. "Look at the birds of the ouranou..."
Taking ouranou to mean "the place where the righteous dead go" is borrowing heavily from greek mythology. I don't do that. I just read what the bible says without importing greek mythology into the bible.
Here is the definition given at blueletterbible.org:
1) the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it
a) the universe, the world
b) the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
c) the sidereal or starry heavens
2) the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings
So when Matthew says the "kingdom of Heaven", your argument is that it is actually referring to the sky and not the Heaven where the angels are? The same word ouranou is used 32 times in Matthew in conjunction with the word kingdom. What do you think that is referring to? What is the kingdom of Heaven if Heaven is not a place that we will ever go to?
Death is not "a change of state". You can have a change of state without dying. If I change my state from sitting to standing have I died? Death is the change from being alive to being dead. And if death is not really death, how can there be a second death? The fact that there is a second death after the resurrection from death makes it clear that there is a first death which is really death and not life in the torture world.
How is Heaven a tortue world? You seem to always loose sight of Heaven and focus on Hell. Why is that?
Death is a change of state, just as going to sleep is a change of state, and the Bible often compares death to sleep. A comparison that does not lend itself to belief in a total cessation of consciousness, just as sleep is not a total cessation of consciousness, though it is a very altered form of consciousness.
No, you said that I am "not beholden to that truth." You said that the bible speaks of the truth of heaven, now you say it is a matter of how the bible is interpreted. I agree with what the bible says, I just don't agree with your interpretation of what the bible says.
Just as I do not agree with your interpretation, but you act as though you are not engaged in the act of interpreting and are pontificating absolute infallible truth.
Here is another example of how your theology ignores what is clearly presented in the Bible:
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven
Matthew 5:12
What is a reward in Heaven if no one will ever go to Heaven? That makes absolutely no sense.