Podcast
The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan
Hosted by Matthew Ruttan · EN
Since a pulse doesn’t mean you’re alive, this podcast is about the vitality of firm faith, pursuing personal integrity, and consistently keeping the main thing the main thing in practical ways day-by-day. It includes feature topics, interviews, expository sermons and more.
38episodes
Episodes
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#Blessed and Forgiven (Don’t Believe the Lies), Psalm 32
3d ago00:31:20Tap to summarizeOur culture preaches lies to us every day, and even every hour: “You’re not enough! You don’t have enough! You can’t keep up! There is something missing in your life!” However, if you are in Christ, you already have what matters most—eternity. This happens when we experience the forgiveness of the King of the Universe. This makes you “blessed”—and this is the kind of blessing that eclipses anything you could accumulate or achieve while here on earth. This sermon explains Psalm 32, an ancient song penned by King David. He explains some reasons we can be very, very glad. “Live your life as it is, not as it was.” And how is it? It is forgiven and blessed. The world can bark like a mad dog all it wants, but we have eternity. Audio: YouTube: subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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“Behold”—a prayer
2w ago00:02:24Tap to summarizeWe’ve become accustomed to rushing, not beholding. Are we better off for it? Join in with this prayer for the worship service at Westminster on July 26, 2026. Let us pray:Lord God forever-mighty,who makes 1000 years seem short,and the girth of 1000 armies seem weak,we behold you. Behold.That’s a word we don’t use much anymore—behold.Instead of beholding your grandeur,we put you in the footnotes of our priorities.Instead of just beholding your mercy,we rush past, as if stepping over someone who needs help,because we have more pressing things to do.Instead of just beholding your trustworthiness,we give you five seconds of thought,as we rush and zag this way and that—otherwise distracted by a worldthat wants our attention while it steps on our hearts.But no.Today—right here, right now—we behold you.Your grandeur.Your mercy.Your trustworthiness.We hold them close in the tangle of our frailty—while you cut through the ugliness with your beauty.Forgive our sin—when we ignore, look away, trivialize, manipulate, shrug,in the face of all the things that matter most.Bring us, yet again, to that glorious space of gratitude,to that internal sunrise of clarity,where we behold you—again and again and again.These things we pray,like toddlers at the foot of a hero,in the name of Jesus—Saviour to sinners, Teacher to students, Friend to tired souls—Amen. subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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Keep Fighting (Series Summary for 1-2 Peter)
2w ago00:24:45Tap to summarize“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” As we battle through life, is it just the size of the fight in us, or is there something specific about the nature of that fight that we need to know in order to be successful? In this sermon, we explore 2 Peter 3:14-18, and then three additional verses which are representative of Peter’s teaching through his letters as a whole. 1 Peter 1:3 is about being born again to a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have. And 2 Peter 3:17 warns us against being carried away with the error of lawless people, losing our stability. Life can be difficult and unpredictable. But Peter is a faithful fighter who knows how to persevere and have hope. That’s what he wants for us too. Let’s bring this series to a strong finish, and keep fighting! Listen: YouTube: subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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The “Disclosure Day” movie—aliens, demons, nuns, Hollywood, and other wild stuff
3w ago00:17:42Tap to summarizeDisclosure Day is the latest movie by Steven Spielberg, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, and Eve Hewson. In short, here’s the plot. The government has had concrete proof of aliens (UFO’s) for over seven decades. Not only do they have piles and piles of documented footage, but they have actually communicated and interacted with aliens face-to-face—and, in some cases, done experiments on them. The movie tells the story of several individuals who take this top-secret information, defect from their security company (which had been charged with guarding the secret), and attempt to disclose it to everyone else on planet earth—hence “Disclosure Day.” Everyone needs to know the truth! High-paced car (and train) chases, espionage, quirky birds, betrayal, and bombs populate their journey. Since there has been some online chatter about this movie, I thought I would share some thoughts after having seen it with my 15-year-old son. Oh, and there are some spoiler alerts ahead. Consider yourself warned. Let me set the stage with some comments about what is happening in our wider cultural moment which makes our interest in the movie all the more timely. UAP’s in the news First, our society has been talking a lot about aliens—although, we don’t tend to call them that anymore, perhaps because the word makes us think of green critters and conspiracy theorists who never leave their parents’ basements. Today’s word is “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAP for short. It’s more vague and, I think, is meant to sound more objective and cautionary. There have been several news stories about things flying the skies, and no one has been able to provide a definite explanation about what they are or who is causing them. Hence, UAP. Earlier this year former American President Barack Obama made headlines when in an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen he said that aliens are real, though he hadn’t personally seen them. (He also denied that aliens are kept at Area 51.) After his comments went viral, he made a clarifying comment a few days later to downplay the hype. He basically said that he was only speculating: “the odds are good there’s life out there,” he said. At other times, the former president has spoken about evidence of objects in the sky that move quickly and are unpredictable, but which can’t be explained. This just adds to the intrigue. Here in Canada, a national survey released in 2025 by the University of British Columbia found that almost half of Canadians believe in at least one paranormal phenomenon. This could be the idea that people are visited by spirits or ghosts, or that extra-terrestrial life has visited our planet. I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people think there are mysterious things happening all around us, even if we don’t understand them all. The paranormal and faith Second, questions about paranormal activity—whether that be aliens, haunted houses, or attempts to contact the dead—always seem to intersect with bigger questions about existence and faith. People ask questions like, ‘Does the Bible address any of this? Does it disprove—or confirm—what we know about God? If any of this is real, how does it influence our faith as modern people who are increasingly shaped by scientific discovery, but who are also open to things we simply can’t explain?’ Disclosure Day intentionally goes out of its way to directly address some of these questions. Other questions are only alluded to. Let’s turn to some of them now. I’m going to address eight points. 1. The Convent Close to the start of the movie, two of the protagonists (Daniel and Jane) find refuge in a convent (where nuns live). Turns out that Jane was at one time in training to be a nun, or at least engaged in a discernment process. She has a close connection with one of the main nuns, and will consult her with questions as the movie goes on. This initial sequence tells us that the possible relationship between aliens, God and faith is an overt subplot of the movie. We’ll return to this toward the end. 2. Special abilities We also come to learn that aliens have given special abilities to two people. One of them is Daniel, played by Josh O’Connor, the other is a weather reporter named Margaret, played by Emily Blunt. Daniel’s ability is to understand high-level mathematics. There’s more to it than that, but the point is that he’s very intelligent and can understand patterns, code and language in a way that other people can’t. Margaret can simply look at someone and know things about them—their names, things happening in their life, and even their emotional needs. Again, there’s more to it than that, but you get the idea. Biblically speaking, this may make us think of “spiritual gifts.” The Bible teaches that every Christian has at least one. There are about nineteen spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament. They include things like teaching, healing, words of knowledge, tongues, discernment of spirits, intercession, mercy, etc. Bruce Bugbee explains how spiritual gifts are “endowments or special gifts given by God that enable us to make our unique contribution. They are not natural talents, but divine abilities that enable us to do ministry.”[1] The special abilities featured in Disclosure Day are other-worldly abilities which seem to exist for the benefit of the human race as a whole. Is Spielberg intentionally comparing (or contrasting) the gifts that have been given to Daniel and Margaret with how the Holy Spirit uses believers today? It’s hard to be sure. 3. Cardinals</h3...
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The Future is Beautiful (2 Peter 3:1-13)
3w ago00:28:25Tap to summarizeWhen you hear the word “beautiful,” what comes to mind? At first, perhaps you think about someone who is particularly attractive. After a few seconds, perhaps you think about “inner beauty.” But what if the future is beautiful? And what if you had an opportunity to take something from that beautiful future and bring it back into the ugliness of the present? This sermon explores 2 Peter 3:1-13 and the return of Jesus—an event sometimes called the “second coming.” Something we can forget about Jesus’ return is what happens afterward. He will usher in “the new heavens and the new earth.” It is a place devoid of pain, tears, suffering and sin, and a place where there is only communion with God, peace among people, and glorious joy. Peter says it is a place where “righteousness dwells.” As we wait for this day, Peter invites us to live in holiness and godliness. The future is beautiful. As a people of hope who live in a world that much ugliness, we have an opportunity to foreshadow (in the here and now) the true beauty that is to come. Audio: YouTube: subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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Are younger Canadian Christians becoming more “evangelical”?
4w ago00:14:55Tap to summarizeFor years there has been an assumption that younger people tend to be more “liberal,” meaning they are more “socially progressive” on a variety of modern issues. A decade ago, I remember someone telling me, “You’re never as liberal as you are when you are in college.” That sentiment seemed to be widespread. I have heard it said, therefore, that the church needs to “get with the times” in order to appeal to the younger generation. However, there is some new research which challenges some of those assumptions. A recent article in The Times by James Marriott was titled: “Full-fat faith: the young Christian converts filling our churches.” Is that true? If so, why? Before I present the research, let me share a few personal observations. First, no matter what we are told by various studies, the church should never shift its stance on important biblical beliefs or practices just because it’s the popular thing to do. As I wrote in a recent devotional, our job is to faithfully follow Jesus, not thoughtlessly follow the crowd. Second, I too have noticed something happening. Many of my colleagues have noticed it too. Younger Christians are appearing in evangelical churches—not in waves, but here and there, consistently. Third, for years there has been commentary on how “conservative” churches grow and how “liberal” churches shrink. Those labels aren’t very helpful, especially in Canada where those words immediately make us think about political parties. Further, people disagree about what makes a healthy church. A church with five hundred people is not necessarily healthier than a church with fifty if it has the wrong priorities. As we know, there are many churches which are numerically “small,” but which are still doing good work for the kingdom. Having said that, based on my on own reading and observations, healthy churches in North America—no matter their size—tend to have some things in common. At the top of the list is an alignment with historic Christian beliefs like what we find in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Related to this is a serious commitment to teaching from the Bible across the ministry of the church (i.e. not just Sunday mornings). David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons confirm this in their own research: “immersion in Scripture is a driver of church growth and spiritual vitality.”[i] Are there other important factors that need to be present? Absolutely. But if orthodox beliefs are missing, a healthy vibrant church is not possible, even if it has open doors and a full list of activities. If the Triune God isn’t honoured, and if the Holy Spirit isn’t working, nothing else matters. <p class="w...
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Bad theology hurts people (2 Peter 2)
Jul 1300:25:35Tap to summarizeJ.I. Packer said: “Bad theology hurts people.” When we stray from biblical teachings, we become susceptible to misguided beliefs about God and, therefore, misguided ideas about life. These beliefs can cause destruction. In 2 Peter 2, the apostle goes on what we might call “a rant.” However, his passionate teaching comes from a place of love and concern for his people and is motivated by love! After he is gone, false teachers will try to deceive and mislead the people. Peter wants to ensure that doesn’t happen. Today, we need to hear this message more than ever. We live in an age which increasingly tries to make everything that is spiritual or religious “subjective.” Francis Shaeffer uses the language of a two-tiered approach to truth. He gives us a helpful model by which to evaluate our beliefs. This sermon takes us through the text, introduces Shaeffer’s idea, and encourages us to see how good theology—grounded in Scripture—helps you, me, and the people we care about more fully flourish under God. Audio: YouTube: subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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A rebel prayer
Jul 1000:03:16Tap to summarizeJoin in with this prayer I led during a worship service on July 5, 2026. Lord of light, which is a way of saying truth, wisdom, goodness, guidance,Lord of light, we marvel at you repeatedly.Every single day you open your door to someone who is lost, crying, weary.Every single day you forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it.Every single day you remain unmoved from your pillars of justice and truth.Lord of light, we thank you that you don’t keep that light to yourself.When we think of the word ‘rebel,’we usually think about some sort of criminal who doesn’t care about consequences,or maybe we think about someone we know who doesn’t care what other people think.‘What a rebel!’But ‘rebel’ is a way that can often be used to describe… us.You say: ‘Trust me,’ and we rebel.You say: ‘Love,’ and we rebel.You say: ‘This is truth,’ and we rebel.Forgive us.Purge from within us, and the aura of naïve independence around us—purge rebellion that we throw up in the faceof a God who authors all that is good and true and beautiful.Give us undivided hearts.Open the door yet again to your lighthousewhere the light of Jesus exposes every secret,and also where the light of Jesus showers our rebellion with mercy,and our vulnerability with embrace;where the light of Jesus makes something new—replacing selfish rebellion with friendship with the Prince of peace.All these things we pray in his name,and together with the words he taught us to pray together, saying:Our Father… subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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A biblical definition of humility
Jul 700:07:53Tap to summarizeVices and virtues In the Bible, there are virtues and there are vices. These are traits to cultivate, and traits to purge. In the sixth century, Pope Gregory the first curated a list that we know today as the “seven deadly sins.” Pride was first on the list. Its corresponding virtue was (and is) humility. But if pride is so bad and humility is so good, what is it? This episode will provide a definition which, I believe, is faithful to how the word is used in the Bible. Speaking of which, here are a few of the times it is mentioned. Biblical examples In James 4:10 the half-brother of Jesus says: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” The apostle Peter says something similar in 1 Peter 5:6. Both of these statements echo Jesus’ own words in Matthew 23:12: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Proverbs 3:34 says: “Toward the scorners he [God] is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.” That verse was so well-known that it is alluded to in two other places in the New Testament. Further, there are times when the humility of a biblical character is celebrated. One example is Mary in Luke 1:46-55, a passage famously known as the Magnificat. Another is Jesus himself in Philippians 2:5-11 where we are told to be like Jesus who: “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (verse 8). Definitions When it comes to zeroing-in on a definition, the Thayer lexicon says that it has to do with littleness, modesty, and even lowliness of mind. Interestingly, it mentions that the word for humility is very rarely used by secular writers outside of the Bible at the time, and when it is, it is used negatively. This already tells us that there is something counter-cultural about the biblical ideal of humility. The Friberg lexicon includes the ideas of voluntary submission and selflessness. In light of what we know about Jesus, that makes sense. Literary critic and author C.S. Lewis picks up on this when he says: “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but of yourself less.”[i] I’ve also become fond of an insight by Henri Nouwen. He pointed out that we live in a society that values upward mobility. Think of the “ladder of success”—which, by the way, seems to imply stepping over other people in the process. In contrast, Nouwen coined the phrase “downward mobility.”[ii] That’s good. And it leads us into a definition that I think is faithful to the biblical picture: Humility is being down-to-earth and unpretentious as you yield to God for the benefit of others. <path fill="#fff" d="M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z"...
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When it comes to virtue, roots before fruits (2 Peter 1)
Jul 600:28:21Tap to summarizeAlasdair MacIntyre thinks we may be entering a “new dark ages” when it comes to virtue. That may be so, but not for the people of God. Even when we’re feeling morally bankrupt and tempted to throw up our hands in defeat, God leads us forward in Christlikeness—even despite ourselves. This sermon explores 2 Peter 1:1-21. It includes a word of encouragement to people who feel like they’re not as far along the path as they want to be, and also some specific help moving forward along the “ladder of faith,” seven qualities Peter highlights for Christians who are growing in the knowledge of Jesus. Christlikeness through you is overflow from Christ in you. Let’s learn together. Audio: YouTube: subscribe to the Up DAILY Devotional Subscribe wherever you enjoy podcasts: Apple Podcasts Spotify TuneIn Amazon Audible
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