Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode
of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla, and I am so
excited to be sitting down here with Paul Henderson.
Paul has worked for 18 years, I think, as a professional
hockey player and does some leadership work now,
but is also a well -loved member of our Trinity
family here. And so I'm excited to get to hear
your story, Paul. Well, my name is Paul Henderson.
I started coming to this church in 1991. OK.
And it was one of the best things that ever happened
to me. And we are so fortunate today that we
have Rob. He is one of the most creative speakers
I've ever heard of my life. But I did play professional
hockey as a kid growing up by practicing. I practice
my started practicing my autograph when I was
in grade five. OK, because I wanted to be an
NHL hockey player and I wanted to. have a legible
autograph. And so that was my dream. And I was
able to do it. I played junior hockey and then
I made the Detroit Red Wings. I played six years
there. I was traded the Toronto Maple Leafs and
played there until I got tired of Harold Ballard,
who had our team. And I think that's why the
Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since. But anyway,
and when I retired, Well, I didn't become a Christian
until I was 32. And Mel Stevens from Teen Ranch
was a guy that spent a lot of time to lead me
to the Lord. And so in March of 75, I became
a Christian. And then next year, I jumped to
the WHA and we went to Birmingham, Alabama. And
I got down there and I got a mentor. And I met
with this guy. He was this nine of us. And we
met from six thirty to eight o 'clock on Monday
mornings. And this guy modeled for me what it
was to love the Lord and put him in the center
of your life. And so that changed my life incredibly.
And then after three years from my mentor and
the pastor came to me and said, we've got some
new people in church and we want you to lead
them. become the leader. I can't do that. I've
only been a Christian for three years. And sometimes
it's people that have more confidence in yourself
than you do. And so they talked me into doing
it. And I loved it. Yeah. And I just tried to
replicate what John Bradford taught me. And he
gave me great advice. He says, Paul, our personalities
are so different. Don't lead like I do. You are
very passionate. You're disciplined in that.
be yourself and obviously challenge them. And
he said, really, for the last six months, he
says, with your discipline, your passion, you've
been really leading it. So you're going to have
no problem. Sure. And so anyway, that was really
good advice. Yeah. So anyway, here I am. And
then came back to Canada. And then I really felt
that God was saying to me, Paul, I want you to
reach out to Paul Henderson, the guys that are
probably successful and. and know the, you know,
fears and all that kind of stuff. And so I decided
I wanted to go over the business and professional.
And I wanted to raise up leadership. And I want
to develop leaders that would in turn create
leaders. And that's the thing I love about this
church. We got these groups, because everybody
needs a group that you can get together, talk
about it. And so I figured if I, I really wanted
to get a movement going. I thought, if I get
25 men's groups going, I'll have a movement.
Well, I got cancer in 2009, and by that time
we had 80 groups going. OK, wow. And so I'm not
a very good visionary. But I knew I had to get
some other people to take over because they told
me I might have like five years. OK. And but
anyway, we did. And we got some people that were
strategists. And now it's just exploded around
the world. I ran a pretty good mum and pop shop.
But now I don't have to go in a meeting, so I
just need to pray for people, meet them and try
to be a disciple maker. Yeah, that's awesome.
Yeah. So you said, you know, starting maybe even
grade five, maybe before you really wanted to
be a hockey player. So what what sort of fueled
that passion for you? Why did you want that as
a career? Well, this is not very good, but I
grew up very poor. I was the oldest of five kids.
Yeah. And I never got a pair of skates. I was
nine. Like we never went to a restaurant and
everything like that. And I just hated being
poor. And I thought, well, one of the ways you
can make a lot of money or good money early,
be a professional hockey player. And I was a
good athlete. I was quick on that kind of stuff.
And so I said, this is where I want to get to.
And so that really drove me. But the other side
of the coin, I wanted to prove to my buddies
that I could be successful. It was very important
for me. to be successful. And unfortunately,
I didn't have a spiritual side to my life, so
it's all about me. And that's what I was after,
making money, being successful. Okay. Okay. And
then partway through your hockey career, you
come to learn about and to choose to follow Jesus.
So how did that happen? Well, in 1972, we played
the Russians and I scored a goal in the last
34 seconds to win the series. I scored the winning
goal in game six, seven and eight. Yes, I heard
that. And became the sports moment of the last
century. And Mel Stevens, who ran Teen Manch
runs up in Oakville or Orangeville area. He came
to me, knocked on my door, never met him before.
And he asked me if I could. I would really like
you to come to our hockey school. We teach kids
hockey school and I'd like you to, you know,
come. So I said, well, what do you pay? He said,
well, we're a Christian organization and we don't
have any money. We ask you to donate the time.
I see. And I looked at him like, do you not know
who you're talking to? Right. Yes. So anyway,
he just seemed like a great guy. We get into
a conversation. And he said, you know, Paul,
I see you interviewed on television and I've
done a little background work there. I know you've
got a good marriage and family near the toast
of Canada. And to me, you've got everything.
But when I see you interviewed, you seem to got
an edge to yourself. And to me, you seem like
you're not a very satisfied person. And I looked
at him and like, am I wearing a sign? Because
after we got all that nonsense of Becoming a
sort of a hero for a little while here. I said
to Eleanor, my wife, who is the greatest wife
in the world, I tell you. I said, no, there's
something missing. And she said, Paul, relax.
We got a great marriage. Just enjoy your right.
And I said, I just have a sense. So anyway, Mel
says to me, Paul, you can learn to live freely
and lightly and you don't need it. But you got
to look at the spiritual side of life. And I
said, I don't talk about politics and I don't
get into religion, because they're just arguments,
you know. So anyway, the guy had patience. He
said, Paul, and I said, I've tried to read the
Bible, but it doesn't make any sense to me. Unfortunately,
I started on the Old Testament. Anyway, when
you start out as a skeptic, it's a slow turn.
And he got me a Bible and he would meet with
me almost... at least every two weeks. And I
got to be, I could speak to you very intelligently
about the epistles and everything like that.
And so one morning it was March 12th and that
was his birthday. I didn't know it. But I got
up this morning and he had taught me to get up
in the morning, start the day with the Lord and
read. And so I got up and I was sitting there
having a quiet time and I said to the Lord, There's
so many things about you that I don't understand.
Yeah. But I really believe you are who you say
you are. And Mel tells me that you will wipe
the slate clean. And I had a lot of things in
my life that I needed forgiveness for. And so
I said to him, Lord, I want you to be my Lord
and Savior. And I said like this with everything.
Don't you ever expect me to tell anybody about
this because I'm going to be a secret service.
Sure. There was only one guy that knew that I
was like Ronnie Ellis, one of my best buddies
and teammate of mine. He was the only guy that
I knew that I was looking at. And we would go
on the road. And I would take a magazine and
I would put my Bible in the magazine. I see.
Lean against the window so nobody knew that I
was reading the Bible. That's how fearful it
was because I didn't know any Christian hockey
players then. But anyway, I gave my life to the
Lord and the best is to be. It took me three
days to get Eleanor was she grew up going to
church, but you don't get radical about it. You'd
be a good person. You go to church, but we didn't
read the Bible or anything in my house. And and
I'm a pretty passionate guy. And and Mel says,
Paul, don't try to preach at Eleanor. And I told
her she was. And she told me later. When I was,
Mel would come to the house and that and she
didn't want any part of it. And she told me later,
she said, I was so worried if you become a Christian,
you either do something well or you don't do
it. She says, I was worried you're going to give
all our money away and go want to live in a tent
in Africa or something. So I sat her down and
we're at the kitchen table. We've been married
for 12 years and my heart was pounding. My armpits
were soaked. And I said, yeah, I become a Christian.
And she looked at me and she said, Oh, wonderful.
And got up and walked out. And that's why she
was in. So anyway, I told Mel and then we went
for there and started. Well, I met with Mel and
then I started to understand why. But one of
the things that is God shows up every once in
a while and about two weeks. after I gave my
life to the Lord. Everybody, especially hockey
players, read Playboy back in those days and
had a prescription for it. And so anyway, I knew
it was coming and I went down that morning to
went to the mailbox and it was there and I picked
it up and I said, I am not supposed to do this.
And I took it and I threw it in the garbage can.
I went upstairs and I had about 10 of my favorite
playboys from the last time, threw them in the
garbage. And I just knew God says, you don't
ever do this again. And I'm so thankful I can
say that I've never looked at one since. And
that was one of the signs that God says, I'll
change it from the inside out. And He's been
doing that since 1975 and still got a lot of
work to do. And that's why I've come here every
Sunday to learn more about the Lord. Sure, yeah.
Yeah, it's so interesting to hear that that sort
of progression because, you know, you started
saying, I don't want to talk about this stuff
at all. And then then you learn a little bit,
but you say, I'm not going to talk about it with
other people at all. But now part of what you
do is go and talk to other people about Jesus.
So how did you sort of get from that place of
I'm going to keep this a secret to this is What
I want to do for my work now. Well, as I thought
about it, the two people that I was most appreciative
of in the world, Mel Sieve was the guy that led
me to them, John Bradford, my matter down there.
Yeah. And I said, goodness gracious, they changed
my life. And I really felt God was saying, now,
Paul, like I said before, I want you to go and
do the same thing to others. And that's why I
came back to Canada. And I started with three
men downtown Toronto in a group. After a while,
I asked them, do you have any friends that are
sort of out to lunch spiritually? And we'll have
a breakfast with them and I'll share my testimony
and you two of you tell them why you're in the
group. And so we got about 18 guys come out.
OK. And then we got we ended up with 12 in our
group. Right. And I said, well, that's the way
to do it. And then just took it from there. Did
the same thing. Just get to lead a guy to the
Lord. Usually they have a lot of non -Christian
friends. Sure. And then we just share very gently
what it means to follow Jesus as a husband, a
father and all that kind of stuff. OK, very cool.
So in what ways has your faith then really influenced?
the the work that you're doing now. Yeah. How
how has that led you into into this work and
how do you sort of see it continuing? Well, I
just like I just said to you this. I learned
from other people and I replicated. We memorize
scripture. John will even then get up in the
morning, start the day with the Lord and which
I do. And then you develop things along the way.
And then John Bradford was big on memorizing
scripture. OK. And we did the two verses every
week. And and and you get it into that. And the
one of my good friends, actually the first guy,
Ronnie Ellis, a teammate of mine at Christmas
gave me a hymn book. He was he was a good singer.
And there it's there's 30, 365 hymns. OK. And
I started. memorizing hymns. OK. And I do it
to this day. And I get up soon as I wake up,
I start singing hymns or some of the Psalms,
Psalms one. Yeah. You know, and and that shapes
what you do. And and so obviously that influenced
everything. And even being a hockey player. In
fact, when I was looking, I didn't think he could
be a Christian and be a hockey player. OK. OK.
But I became a better hockey player after I became
a Christian. OK. Because I knew I had a responsibility
to God to go out there and play every shift the
best way you could, whether you're losing by
five goals or you're winning by five goals and
to and learn to not beat yourself up. Like I
used to get down on myself so bad. Make a dumb
play. We lose the game. God says, nobody's perfect.
Give yourself a shake. Yeah. You know, just don't
make the same mistake again. And so I learned
so many things from the wisdom of the Bible is
where you go for everything. And of course, it
takes a while to get there. And like I said before,
no one ever gets to be perfect. Sure. But everybody,
I don't care who you are, you can always go deeper
with the Lord. And so. And I've learned over
the years to set up boundaries and those things.
And one day, John Bradford told us in the group,
he says, why don't you go to your funeral and
sit down and what do you want your wife to say
about you, truthfully say about you, your children,
your friends? Yeah, that's a great idea. And
so and then he said. Another good thing you need
to do is write a purpose statement for yourself.
What are the character qualities that you want
to develop in that? And so I spent a lot of time
thinking about that. But like for Eleanor, I
wanted to know, I sat down and thought, I want
to know that she is loved and I'm going to tell
her every day. And there's never a day go by
that I don't tell her. I want her to feel cherished
also. I want her to feel respected and I want
her to feel protected. And so I wrote those things
down. And so you get them. OK, Lord. And I get
up every morning, Lord, you know, I pray this
to Lord. There's two people. There's two things
I need protection. I need protection from the
devil and I need protection from myself. Yeah.
And so, you know, and my thoughts, my words,
my deeds would be pleasing to him. Yeah. But
I have some days that, oh, my gracious Paul,
give yourself a shake. And you know, but God
loves me like I have three daughters. None of
them were perfect. No, but they were mine and
I love them. Yeah. And that's the love I remind
myself that God has for me. There is therefore
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. And all you've got to do is come back
and confess the thing that you're embarrassed
about or whatever it would be. And God looks
at me the way that I look at my daughters. Now
my grandchildren. You know, I had three daughters
and none of them were perfect. Now I've got grandchildren
and they're all perfect. It's unbelievable. Oh,
OK. Wow. So when you think about, like you talked
about, you know, before coming to know Jesus,
there was that sense of you were living for,
you know, you wanted some riches, you wanted
a sense of security and feeling like you were
successful versus, you know, now your life goals
are a little bit different, I think. Totally
different. Yeah. Excuse me. But you don't know
it. What hurts you is you don't know what you
don't know. Sure. But God's way is always the
way. Like Jesus says in John 12, he said, I am
the light of the world. Whoever follows me will
not walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life. And every department of your life, there's
wisdom there. Yeah. And so you don't have to
be fearful. I think it's 365 days. God says,
don't be fearful. Like I used to. Oh, gosh, what
if my wife dies or, you know, what if I get injured
badly and can't play hockey? Yeah. Worry doesn't
do you one iota of good. Trust in the Lord with
all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding.
Yeah. And there's difficult times. Sure. Like
I got cancer in 09 and I was some like I worked
out. And the same way that I played hockey today
and lived a good and Eleanor's really good with
good food and everything like that. And how can
that be? But the reality is I don't fear dying.
And I said, Lord, I'm fully convinced that I
will not live a day longer than the Lord wants
me to or a day less. And so I get up. OK, Lord.
And every morning, Lord, I need help. Yeah. You
know, yeah. And I rely on the Holy Spirit. Like
before I come over here today, I said, Eleanor,
you need to pray for us. And so I get in my car.
I never turn on the radio. I'm in my car. I'm
thinking of people. I'm praying for people. And
but everybody's different, Kayla. And you find
out what don't ever try to be like me. Sure.
And my wife, we're totally different how we do
things. What you find out. what works for you.
And I believe God made me the way He wanted me.
Like I'm very open, which makes it easy for talk
about my faith and that kind of stuff. But but
I've learned. It was really when I when I first
became a Christian and I jumped to the WHA and
I was really zealous about like I knew God had
changed my life. One of the players on the team
come up to me and he said, you know, Paul, he
says, you're really a good guy, but you're getting
to be a pain in the rear end talking, talking
about this spirituality stuff. Right. And then
there's a time and a place to do everything.
Sure. And you got it. And so over the years,
I've learned. And I can honestly tell you, some
of my best friends in the world today are people
that I've influenced to come to know the Lord
personally. And I'm going to do that like I'm
never going to retire. I have no desire to get
up. I'd be so bored. In fact, my wife would say,
get out of here. Oh, man. So then what does your
sort of work and life look like right now? What
is God calling you to do in this season? Same
thing I've been doing for 40 years. OK. Get up
in the morning, start the day with him, ask him
who, where and what I should do that day and
have a sense of it. But. I have always been in
a men's group, always will have a men's group
because you need community. And Rob really talks
about that at this church, too, which I love
about. And so I do a lot of praying. I start
the day and I'm really fortunate. I'm a morning
person. I get up very early and Eleanor doesn't
come down usually to well, because she's fighting
that long covid and that kind of stuff. And so
I have usually an hour and a half with the Lord
and then write some things down. OK, who do I
need to talk about or? and I have a long prayer
list. In fact, I've got them all alphabets now.
And so I just whatever. But I have a lot of things
like I'm doing two more podcasts after this one
the next two weeks. And I do a lot. You know,
I get involved in charities like different things
and cancer and all that kind of stuff. So it's
just amazing what happens. The phone calls and
I've had to. Like last night, they wanted me
to go down to the Leaf game and be a part of
dropping the puck. Uh huh. And and I said, I
can't do it because I've got an appointment with
some people and sure. And I can't make it. And
so didn't do it. So but one day at a time. Yeah,
totally. And but the goodness about it, I don't
have to go to any strategy meetings anymore with
the ministry. I'm still with Leader Impact. Yeah,
I founded it back there and. Obviously, it's
thriving and we got some very, very gifted people.
And the neat thing about it, I've raised up people
that are better leaders than I am. And when you
look over your shoulder and you can see some
fruit, God's, you know. Yeah, that's good. You
know, we're supposed to bear fruit and prove
yourself to be. But some of my, like I said,
some of my best friends in the world today are
guys that were just like me. Didn't grow up as
Christians, but now the Lord is the center of
their lives. Right. Yeah. Very cool. So you've
alluded a couple of times to this the season
of dealing with cancer in your life. So how did
you see God present with you in that really challenging
moment? Well, obviously, I have CLL, I have Lymphoma
and leukemia. And what did biopsies and they
told me who I've got and then the doctor told
me with CLL early treatment doesn't help any.
So you've probably got a couple of years and
then your blood will tell us when we have to
start chemo. And the only thing they offered
me in Canada was chemotherapy. And I know my
body well as an athlete. And I said, I'm not
going to do this. So we got on the Internet and
we got and I really believe long story short,
I got into a clinical trial in Bethesda, Maryland
and National Institutes of Health down there.
And I was in bad shape. I'd lost 30 pounds by
this time. Cancer was taken over. But I really
believe God opened the door for me. And and through
some contacts and that. And you got a really
bad shape to get into a clinical trial. Sure.
And I was one of the last to get in it. And I
had to go to it was an experimental drug. The
oncologist I had at the time, he said, it's too
experimental. Don't do it. But we really felt
the Lord was telling us to do it. So we went
down and I had to fly down there every two months
for the first six months and then every three
months. And it wasn't bad to start with, but
the older I got. getting on a plane and snow,
you have to stay over and everything. But just
as COVID hit, I was the last one to get it. They
knew it was only going to last so long, but it
gives you more time. And I was the last of the
57. I lasted longer than anybody. And when my
blood work went crazy, it was just the start
of COVID. And my doctor over and One of my doctors
at Juravinsky, I told him and he said, we've
got a new drug out, Paul. OK. And so we went
over and I had to get used to that. But I don't
have near the side effects with this drug as
I did with the other one. So I'm able to play
golf. I can walk. And and so, like I said, but
when you're not a fear of dying, you're not a
fear of anything. And, you know, you can enjoy
life. Because you only got today and I pray a
lot of mornings. I did this morning, though,
but Lord, this would be a good day for you to
come back. Yeah, yeah. But I do have one fear,
Kayla. I got to tell you a serious fear. Fear.
I fear the only fear I have is that what Eleanor
would die before me. I would just be distraught.
She will make a lot. She will make out a lot
better without me than I will without her. And
I actually pray that to the Lord. Please, please
let me die before her. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, that's
that's a it's a heavy thing that to, you know,
figure out how we walk through life without that
fear. But then, yeah, there's still those things
that plague us. Yeah. Well, I know that I would
survive, but I mean, that's but yeah, you know,
to not want to go through it. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. Yeah, for sure. So when you think about
this sort of next phase of your life, what are
you hoping to see God do in you or as a legacy
that you leave? I want to finish well. Yeah.
When I started the ministry way back, I sat down
and I thought about I want to start small. Yeah.
I want to get one or two groups going to see
if I can raise up leaders, start small. OK. And
then let it expand from there. Without good leadership,
nobody's going to fall. Sure. And then I go deep.
Yeah. Take them deep, get them memorizing scripture,
get them spending time with the Lord every morning.
The challenge of it turns to be the husband,
the father's that they need to be. And then I
thought, think big. So I came up with 25 groups.
If I could get 25, I got a movement going. You
know, start small, go deep, think big, finish
well. And I don't want to be a casualty. Yeah.
You know, and so how you live your life every
day will determine. And so that's what I want
to do. Yeah. And. Start small, go deep, think
big, finish well. That sounds like a good strategy.
Well, this worked for 40 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much,
Paul. It's been so good to hear a bit of your
story and really to hear how God has been so
faithful to you and in the work that you're doing.
And then, of course, by extension, how God has
been faithful to the people that you are leading.
to all of us, because that's just who God is.
Right. God is faithful to you. And as we hear
that, we remember that God is faithful to us.
You got that. And I tell people, I can't think
of anybody in the world more fortunate than I
am. I wouldn't change places. Anybody in the
world. I tell Ellen, don't ever in a moment of
weakness, buy a lottery ticket. The worst thing
could happen to you would be that. And so I got
today. Yeah. Down the road we go. Okay, good.
Well, thank you so much. And thank you for tuning
in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. I
hope that through Paul's story, you have been
able to hear a little bit of God's work in his
life, but also God's work in all of our lives,
and how regardless of the situation that we find
ourselves in, whether we're... in hockey or in
business or just in life and family that God
meets us there and is calling us to go deeper,
to think bigger, and to finish well. And we'll
see you again next week.