Signs & Wonders Blog

Three days ago I took a road trip from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls, South Dakota with another evangelist. One of our pit stops was in St. Peter, Minnesota. The name of that city had me thinking about the proverbial belief of the apostle standing by the gates of heaven. This is based on some people’s interpretation of Matthew 16… 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus was actually talking about kingdom ...

It’s important to study the Bible for yourself and not blindly accept everything a minister says from the pulpit. Wrong religious traditions have developed over the years due to people not rightly dividing the word of truth. For example, Catholics believe Peter was the first pope because of what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18… “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The name Peter comes from the Greek word petros meaning “rock.” Because the next verse refer to Jesus giving “…the keys of the kingdom of heaven” , some people believe “St. Peter” is at the Pearly Gates deciding who gets in and who doesn’t. It’s true that God used this fisherman as a leader in the early days of the church. But Peter himself wrote in 1 Peter 2:4-8… 4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built u...