December 19, 2025 • 53 mins
A single rebound with 34 seconds left can lift an entire country—but what happens when the cheering stops? In this episode we sit down with hockey legend, Paul Henderson, to relive the raw, unvarnished story behind Canada’s most celebrated hockey moment and the unexpected turn that shaped the rest of his life.
From the formation of the Clarke–Ellis–Henderson line, to the humbling wake-up call of Game 1, Paul takes us inside the Summit Series—team dynamics, fatigue, tactical adjustments, and the pressure of a nation riding on every shift. The infamous goal in Moscow wasn’t pretty; it was persistence. And that’s exactly where the deeper story begins.
Fame brought bright lights and a restless edge. In this conversation, Paul opens up about returning to Toronto, the Leafs’ dysfunction under Ballard, and why he chose the WHA despite an unshaken desire to win the Stanley Cup. Then a quiet interruption: a mentor who asked better questions than a camera ever could. That relationship nudged Paul towards the Gospel, and a long, private exploration of who Jesus is, and a simple prayer that led to a steady change in habits, focus and hope. Eleanor’s journey (Paul's wife)—and their family’s—adds a grounding layer to the arc, showing faith not as a spotlight but as a daily practice that holds under pressure.
Paul also shares practical rhythms: starting the day with the Lord’s Prayer, guarding unhurried time, and asking honest questions that meet people where they hurt. If you’re a hockey fan, a leader under strain, or a seeker sorting through noise, you’ll find a rare mix of grit, candor and clarity here.
If you'd like to hear more from Paul Henderson you can go to his website, and you can learn about his leadership ministry through LeaderImpact.ca
And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian Stiller (00:10):
Hello and welcome to Evangelical 360.
I'm your host, Brian Stiller.
People often tell me where theywere when they heard that John
F.
Kennedy had been shot, or whatthey were doing when they heard
John Paul II, too, had beenshot.
These two events, I too cantell where I was and what I was
(00:30):
doing.
But I can really tell youexactly where I was when I
watched Paul Henderson shoot thewinning goal as Canada beat
Russia in the World HockeySummit Series in 1972.
In Game 8, with 34 seconds leftin the game, Canada won 6-5.
And let's not forget thatHenderson scored two goals in
(00:54):
this last game and scored thewinning goals in each of the
last three games they had withthe Russians.
Indeed, this event inHenderson's winning goal is
often touted as being the mostimportant sports event in
Canada's 20th century.
Remember, we were in the middleof a Cold War.
Canada was a humble, ratherunheralded nation, and we
(01:18):
Canadians felt that.
Yet on that very day, schoolclassrooms were hushed as TVs
were brought in for students towatch.
Government offices stoppedtheir work.
We all stood by watching.
It's not an overstatement tosay that this was indeed an
iconic moment for Canadians.
So who is this guy?
(01:40):
This hockey player who stoodCanada on its nose, who shot up
Canada's proverbial spine, a newdignity, a newly found pride,
for a time setting aside theusual humility which seems to
characterize us globally.
He returned to Canada from thisonce in a century moment and
(02:00):
became another person.
Paul Henderson went on to servein Christian faith, building
pockets of those who decidedthat their walk of faith, their
trust in the risen Christ, meantmore than a hockey career.
You'll want to hear his story.
And for you watching, thanksfor joining me today to hear
this sports story from PaulHenderson.
(02:22):
Please consider sharing thisepisode with a friend, and if
you haven't done so, just hitthe subscribe button.
You can also join theconversation on YouTube in the
comments below.
Now to my guest, PaulHenderson.
Paul Henderson, wonderful tohave you on Evangelical 360.
Paul Henderson (02:41):
Great to be here.
Brian Stiller (02:43):
You're an icon in Canada, as as as you know,
you're too humble to admit it.
I said in my opener that I knewexactly where I was that day
when you won the Russian summituh event.
How did you get into hockey?
How did all this begin?
Paul Henderson (03:00):
Well, I grew up in a little village of Lucknow.
And uh like a lot of kids,
Brian Stiller (03:06):
uh that's in the Toronto area?
Paul Henderson (03:08):
No, no, it's up near uh Goderich, near Lake
Heron, Lake Heron area.
And uh I I just took to itright off the bat.
And unfortunately for me, wedidn't have artificial ice, and
so uh played a lot on the roadsback then.
They didn't assign them, but uhbut we were dirt poor.
And uh I never got a pair ofskates till I was nine.
(03:30):
And uh I was a little slowstunter and journeys getting on
the ice.
But uh I loved all sports anduh hockey was the one.
And uh when I was in gradefive, I decided that I was going
to be a NHL hockey player.
Brian Stiller (03:46):
An NHL for our international people is the
National Hockey League, which isthe North American Pro Hockey
League.
Paul Henderson (03:51):
Yeah, exactly.
And so I started practicing myautograph because I knew when I
got to the NHL, you're not gonnahave chicken scratch.
You're gonna know that I'm PaulHenderson, and I have excellent
penmanship today because ingrade five, that's when I wanted
to do.
Brian Stiller (04:08):
How in the world did that come to you as a as a
what uh 10, 12-year-old boy?
Paul Henderson (04:14):
Yeah, uh well, all my heroes were the hockey
players.
I used to listen, my dad and I,he was a big hockey fan too,
and we listened to Foster Hewitton Saturday night.
That was before there wastelevision on there.
And then we'd come and so Ijust you know decided that's
what it's gonna be.
(04:35):
And uh thank goodness I madeit.
Brian Stiller (04:38):
How did you break into the NHL?
Paul Henderson (04:41):
Well, I uh but in Lucknow, like I said, we
didn't have it.
And I we were uh we there was auh a tournament in Goderich,
Pee Wee Tournament, uh way backthen, and 50, 60 teams would
come.
And I got my name in the papera couple of times, scored six
goals in one of the games, andso there was a little chatter.
(05:02):
But then when I was 15, when Iwas 15, uh we uh I scored 18
goals in one game.
And the way you score 18 goalsin one game, you need a very bad
goaltender.
But just uh I was a completeplayer.
I had 18 goals and two assists.
We beat this team 21 to 6.
(05:23):
And of course, the name got inthe paper, and then they came up
and started uh scouting meafter that.
And in Detroit, I Detroit,Toronto, and um Boston wanted me
to come to their camps, and Idecided Gordy Hell was my
favorite player.
And and so uh, and they had ateam, Detroit owned the team in
Hamilton, and it was the closestone to Lucknow.
(05:46):
And so uh that's where I playeda year junior B in Goderich,
which was only 20 miles fromwhere I grew up.
And then I went there and we uh62, we won the Memorial Cup.
What a great spell that was.
And then turned pro the nextyear and ended up with Detroit
and played 18 years of prohockey.
So had a great time.
Brian Stiller (06:08):
And of course, Canada and Russia, the two great
hockey empires, they were at uhnose to nose from for years.
And the summit in 72, did youplan on that, or how did that
come about?
Paul Henderson (06:24):
Well, they I I think it was actually that the
Russians came and they hadthey'd been working on this for
a couple of years.
They challenged us, and so theyput it together four games in
Canada, four games back inMoscow, and uh and we knew they
were great hockey players, butthe power we had, like you know,
you've got Esposito, Cournoyerand Frank Mahovlich, and you
(06:48):
know, oh
Brian Stiller (06:49):
Andy Bathgate.
Paul Henderson (06:50):
Well, he didn't play then.
He was he wasn't on the team[audio from broadcast inserted] ,
but we just had a powerhouse.
(07:24):
Yeah, we had twelve Hall ofFamers on.
And so I I, you know, if ourgoaltenders, I thought if our
goaltenders have a bad night,then their goaltenders play,
well, you know, may tie a gameor win a game, but I didn't
think there would be.
But uh unfortunately we did wewe didn't take them seriously
enough because when we went totraining camp, and the other
(07:46):
thing too, there was 35 of uschosen, and there's only 17 guys
that can play.
And uh it made it tough.
And a lot of I we were RonnieEllis and I played with Normie
Ullman, and we played on a line,and I thought we'd be chosen as
a line, but they uh theyNormie didn't make it.
(08:07):
So Ronnie, Ronnie and I knew wewere going to be together, and
we looked at there were sevenright-wingers, left-wingers, and
center rights.
We looked at them, we werehoping we'd get Stan Makita,
good playmaker.
And uh, but anyway, we go tocamp and uh uh uh apparently
somebody turned it down and theyinvited Bobby Clarke, who was
just a 21-year-old kid at thetime.
(08:28):
And we didn't want to get himfor sure because if we looked at
all the lines, and the best wecould be was maybe five.
Or if we get Clarke, we'regonna be seven.
And so we go to first practice,and Ronnie Ellis, Paul
Henderson, and Bobby Clarke.
So after the practice was over,uh, we went out and had a pop.
I think most of made it.
(08:49):
But uh Ronnie and I told him wewant to play in Toronto, so why
don't we go out there and workour tails off and show them that
we can compete?
And maybe we might be theshutdown line.
If they need a line, we're allgood defensive players.
And so, yeah, but we didn'tpark very much, but you don't
have to tell him anything aboutit because he and so we went to
(09:13):
camp and we worked our tailsoff.
And we played a red-white game.
Our side won 5-2.
I scored two goals, and Clarkegot a goal.
And I mean, we knew we weregoing to play in the first game,
and we we, you know, but someguys, I mean, there was a couple
of guys never worked up asweat.
I mean, there it was just ajoke.
Well, then we took found out inthe first game how good the
(09:35):
Russians were.
They couldn't, Hall of Famerscouldn't get us out of the
lineup.
We were the only line thatplayed all eight games.
Brian Stiller (09:44):
And uh so the first four games were in Canada.
Yeah.
And and uh what was the win winloss there?
Paul Henderson (09:50):
Well, we we uh kneeled in Montreal.
Well, Montreal what my coachmade a bad mistake, Sinden.
He only dressed fivedefensemen.
Well, after the second period,those five guys were dead.
Their legs were like, you know.
So anyway, we lost there, wetied here in Toronto, and Peter
Mahovlich scored a shoulderhanded goal in the third period
(10:11):
that allowed us to win thatgame.
And I think it was where bothin Toronto.
Yeah, we second game was inToronto.
Montreal Toronto scored thatgoal, and that, you know, set
thank goodness we did that.
We went to Winnipeg, we tied inWinnipeg, and we went to uh
Vancouver, and uh, they scoredtwo power play goals right off
(10:32):
the bat.
And we did not have a goodgame, the whole team did.
And and so we had we go toRussia and we know that we've
got to win three games overthere, and we lost the first
game in Moscow.
So actually, in that game, Igot a I had a concussion.
I I beat a guy on the outside,but he tripped me and I went
into the boards backwards.
(10:53):
And Jim Murray, the doctor, uhexamined me and after I got
straightened around a bit, andhe told me I had a concussion
and I had to take my equipmentoff.
Well, Harry Sinden came in andtold me the same thing.
And I said to Harry, please,please don't let me do that.
I'll take care of myself.
Please let me play.
And he looked at me and said,Well, we sure as hell need you.
(11:16):
And if you want to play, I'mnot gonna stop you.
Like today, I'd have never beenleft back on the ice.
And so So you got back on theice and uh went up back out and
then uh scored the winning goalin game six, game seven, and
game eight, the last game.
Uh I told my wife after we lostthe first game in Moscow,
because we played the thirdperiod almost short-handed, the
(11:38):
whole thing, called everypenalty they could on us.
But I said, if we don't win thelast three games, we're gonna
be known as the biggest losersin the history of Canadian
hockey.
And I think all of us uh reallybelieve that.
And so
Brian Stiller (11:51):
So what was the spirit in the uh the dressing
room?
Paul Henderson (11:55):
The one thing about the Canadians, like we
never give up.
And you know, Tarasov said wecan compete with the Canadians
and we can skate with them,shoot with them, everything like
that.
But he says we just can'thandle the spirit they have,
they just never give up.
They just keep coming back atyou.
And that's what we did.
(12:15):
And we in the third game, thelast game after the second
period, we're losing 5-3.
And I went over and I tookKenny Dryden and I hit his my
stick with the goalie.
Yeah, he was playing that game,and I said, You board this
sucker up for us and we'll winthe game.
But if you cannot let anothergoal in.
(12:35):
And I said, And what was thescore at that point?
5-3.
They were living 5-3 in thethird period.
And then uh Esposito scores uhuh right off.
First shift, Mahovlich gamewith uh a pass in the slot.
He's tied up, and thenCournoyer started up at uh at
about 12-minute mark, and theRussians come down and they told
(12:57):
us if the game ended up on atie, because there's gonna be no
overtime, they were gonna claima victory because they scored
one more goal than we did.
And they said that they weregonna claim victory.
So the game goes on and it'stied.
And our line came up.
Ronnie Ellis, Bobby Clarke, andI were on the ice, and we come
off with about a minute and ahalf left.
(13:18):
And Sinden sent out Esposito,Cournoyer, and Peter Mohavlich.
And the next line up was twoHall of Famers, John uh Rod
Gilbert and Jean Ratelle, and uhDennis Hull was playing on that
line at that time.
And anyway, I figured it's allover for me, but Harry Sinden
(13:39):
came down, sent them out, and hesaid, guys, if there's any time
left, you guys have it.
So I'm sitting there, and aboutthe one-minute mark, I did
something I never did before,never did it again.
And maybe because I'd scoredthe two winning goals before, I
got to get on the ice.
And I started yelling at PeterMahovlich.
Never did that before at all.
(14:00):
And thank God he'd come off andI jump over the boards.
And you know what irritates me?
I scored seven goals.
Six were really nice goals.
The only goal was a garbagegoal as the last one.
And I didn't know Hendersonmakes a wild stab for it and
falls.
Describe it.
Well, what happened?
(14:21):
I torn my head at the far side.
I'm a right-hand shot, and I'mcoming across, and I was the one
timer, like uh Matthews, youknow.
One timer, but it was too farout in front of me.
And uh I was reaching for it,and the defenseman put a stick
between my legs, and I crashedinto the boards behind.
(14:41):
And I remember I still havetime because I went through the
whole team the game before.
And all of a sudden, Phillacked that treachery, and he
said, never have let the reboundgo.
And I panicked.
Oh my god.
And I got it and I shot it, andhe stopped it with his pad, but
it came right back to me, andhe was down, and I had about a
foot to put it in and jumpedinto Cournoyer's arms, and I
(15:05):
still haven't quit celebrating.
Brian Stiller (15:08):
Did you have any idea?
Well, you you you said thatwhen you went into those three,
if you if you lose the if youlose this series, you'll be
known as the biggest losers inCanada.
So you knew how important thatmeant offer culturally to this
uh this country back in 72, wemaybe have 25 million people.
We're kind of we're we're thepoor cousins of the Americans
(15:29):
and we're the lost cousins of ofthe UK.
But when you scored that goaland when you won the series, did
you have any anticipation as towhat that meant to us?
Paul Henderson (15:42):
No, I don't think I did.
I did well, I knew it was big.
And uh, but the the thing I'dlike to tell you there was three
three uh thousand Canadianscome over there, and we would
have never won that serieswithout, I really believe that
because even in in the firstgame, we lost the game, and you
(16:04):
had to stand and listen to thethe anthem of and it was the
Russian national anthem is awonderful piece of music, but
very long when you lose.
Yeah, and we're we lose it withskating off those three, they
stood up and gave us a standingovation.
I can remember it likeyesterday, and it was a
miserable night in Moscow.
(16:24):
We get back to the hotel maybean hour later.
There were several hundredoutside the hotel.
We got off the bus, they wentcrazy again.
The fact that most of them werehammered has got nothing to do
with it.
But and then they sang thenational anthem the last three
games.
I'm on the sitting therelistening to the sing.
(16:46):
I have bumps on my arm.
I mean, that you could just,and they and they cheered us on
like it was, and the Russians,all they could do was whistle.
Because according to communism,if you ever started doing
anything, you get thrown outlike, and so these Canadians
were going crazy, and and thethey didn't, they didn't, they
(17:08):
the the the KGB or the uh armypeople didn't know what the heck
to do.
And the guy from Montreal, theguy that always played the
trumpet in Montreal, and theytried to get he would start
blowing it, and they tried toget him passed down.
It was really funny.
But anyway.
Brian Stiller (17:26):
So then you come home.
Paul Henderson (17:28):
Yeah.
Brian Stiller (17:29):
Uh and the the media.
I remember going down to apractice at the Maple Leaf
Gardens uh about a couple ofweeks after you got back.
And I just sat watching thepractice.
And we met, you probablyforgot, but we met then.
I because I was hoping we coulddo something else because of
(17:52):
your stardom.
But when you get back and allof a sudden you're on the you're
on the front pages ofeverything, you're on the you're
on the news constantly.
Did this I mean, years beforeyou had learned to sign your
name uh with a flourish, but didyou ever think this would come
your way?
Paul Henderson (18:11):
Oh, never, in a hundred years.
And it was too much too fast.
Like, you know, uh like uh Iwas a good hockey player, but I
didn't have I mean, so many guyswere much better playing hockey
than I was, and I wasn't acelebrity in the sense.
I I was known as a good hockeyplayer, but this changed
(18:32):
everything.
And everybody wanted me to dothings, and uh and my wife and
I, she was always protective,but you know, it was just too
much.
And uh when I look back on itnow too, that uh we'd get into a
game and it was close and thatkind of stuff, and I'd step on
the ice and people would okay,he's gonna do it again.
(18:54):
And really, I was trying to dothings that I shouldn't have
been trying to do.
And it was really a tough timefor me.
It really was until I gotsettled.
And of course, Ballard had ahockey team.
He was he owned the Maple LeafGardens.
Yeah, he owned the team, andand uh He was bizarre at best,
wasn't he?
Well, exactly, and and that'swhy jumped to the WHA.
(19:15):
Well, actually The World HockeyAssociation.
Brian Stiller (19:18):
That was a competitive league to the NHL.
Paul Henderson (19:21):
And offering a lot of money, and they'd been
after me even before thatseries, and they're you know,
guys that could score.
And so uh Johnny Bassett came.
He had the he bought the theWHA franchise uh franchise, and
and he came to me and uh hesaid, Paul, I'd really like to
(19:41):
I'd Frank, I'm I've signed Frankuh Mahovlich, and I'd really
like to have you that, and we'removing from into Toronto Maple
Leaf Gardens, and we're gonnaplay.
And so he asked me what I wasmaking with the leaves, and I
told him, he said, I'll doubleyour contract and give you a
signing bonus.
No puning.
And I said to him, gosh, I, youknow, like I've never ever won
(20:04):
the Stanley Cup.
And that's why I haven't goneto the WH.
Everybody wants to win it.
I desperately want to.
And he said, Well, why don'tyou talk to Frank?
So I phoned Frank and I said,Frank, I hear that you're going
to.
And he said, Yeah, I've got todeal with them a great deal.
And I said, gosh, I'd like totake the money.
(20:24):
But I said, I want to win theStanley Cup.
And he said to me, Paul, if youwant to win it, you better get
out of Toronto.
Because they will never win itwith Harold Ballard there.
Because if they don't, if youdon't have it upstairs, you'd
never get it on the ice.
And it's all about him.
And I thought about that.
And I said, he's right.
(20:44):
And so thank goodness.
One of the best things I everdid was jump to the WHA and get
away from here.
Brian Stiller (20:50):
But let me go back to something you just said.
And that relates to being abeing a sport, being in sports.
You had a passion to win theStanley Cup.
What is there in the mind, inthe heart of a, in your case, a
hockey player who that meanseverything?
What what breeds that?
(21:11):
What how how does that work?
Paul Henderson (21:13):
I think it's in our DNA in Canada.
You ask any guy in the TorontoMaple Leaf today if he could do
something, you and she'd tell itwin the Stanley Cup.
What is there about that?
I don't know.
It's just it's an innate thing.
I and I don't, I'm not sure theAmericans would even say that.
But it candidates our game.
But like we're a small country.
(21:34):
We don't what are what are theyreally the best at in it?
And I'll tell you when theOlympics come around and that
kind of stuff.
Oh my gosh, it just our countrystops as we watch.
Oh yeah.
Well, I was down, we went downto the uh uh the Four Nations
Cup in February.
And uh Eleanor and I went downand and they had some of the 72
(21:57):
guys, and there were six of us,but there were those storms at
that time.
But that tell that that arenawas just electric.
And I we were there, and youknow, and oh my gracious, it it
it just something you can'texplain even.
And you know, like I'm in my80s, and I mean I'm into this
(22:20):
stuff.
Brian Stiller (22:21):
Crazy.
So Paul, you you get back fromRussia, you go through you go
through the uh the problems ofthe uh of the of the of the NHL
franchise in Toronto, which isthe Maple Leafs, and you go to
the competing uh World HockeyAssociation.
But then your life comes into atransition uh in by way of
(22:44):
faith.
But were you raised in a homewhere faith was part of your
growing up?
No.
Paul Henderson (22:50):
Uh my father, um I didn't meet my father until I
was two years old.
He went overseas in Septemberof 42, and I was born in January
of 43.
And uh my mother, she was uhshe believed in God for sure.
And uh I and she would be aChristian, but and apparently
(23:12):
dad had a faith before he wentover there, but when he came
home, he wouldn't go near thechurch.
Uh, never did.
And so when your dad doesn't,then uh and I used to go on
occasion, but I never really Iwas all about being, I wanted to
prove to myself that I can besuccessful.
And I hated being poor.
And so my whole life was aroundbeing successful and being
(23:37):
financially secure.
I wanted to give my wife andfamily things that, you know,
that I was never able to.
And so after 72, what happened?
A guy by the name of MelStevens, who started a Teen
Ranch just upside up nearOrangeville, knocked at my door
one day and came.
And he won, he asked me to beuh if I would work at his hockey
(23:58):
school, if they did a kid'shockey school.
This is after you've come backfrom yeah, this was in February
of uh 73.
So this is a few months after.
And so I said to him, Yeah,what do you pay?
Yeah, because I did thosethings, you got paid pretty
good.
And he said, Well, we're aChristian camp.
And he said, uh we can't affordto give you anything, you'd
(24:20):
have to donate your time.
And so do I did not know whoyou were talking to.
And then he says to me, Hesaid, Paul, I see you, I've done
a little research on youbecause I never met him before.
And he said, he said, I knowyou got a great marriage and
family, you're the toast ofCanada.
And he said, you'd think thatyou'd be one of the most
(24:41):
satisfied guys in the world.
But he said, I see you andinterviewed on television, and
you always seem like you got anedge to yourself.
It just seems to me you don'tseem to be a very contented guy.
And I said, Am I wearing asign?
No one ever said that.
And you know something?
After about two months after Iscored that goal, I said to my
wife Eleanor, who is thegreatest woman in the world, I
(25:04):
said to her, Noah, I I I,Eleanor, there's something
missing.
I just feel we're missingsomething.
And I'm, you know, and uh andso anyway, uh I said, well, I
said that I should have told himthis.
I said to him now, well, if youhad to play for Harold Ballard,
you'd be kicked off too, youknow, kind of still.
(25:26):
And then he said, Paul, haveyou ever looked at the spiritual
side of life?
I said, no, I don't get twothings I don't get into.
I don't get into politics, andI don't get into religion,
because there's always argumentsand everything like that.
And he said to me, Paul, youcan learn to live freely and
lightly, but you got to look atthe spiritual side of life.
(25:47):
And I said, Well, I've tried toread the Bible, but it doesn't
make any sense to me.
And he said, Well, Paul, if youwant to, I'll help you.
And yeah, I'll get togetherwith you and I'll get you a
modern translation.
I said, the these, the thou's,and you know that kind of stuff.
And so he got me um, we got aBible, and I started meeting
with him probably every twoweeks.
(26:09):
And uh we've meant this for twoyears.
Because when you start, you'rea skeptic.
And uh so what was going on inyour mind as you as you're
meeting with them and readingthe Bible?
Just who is this Jesus?
And he finally like, it's allabout who who is Jesus?
Is he who he says he is, andwhat does he?
So anyway, um I in fact I Iused to take my Bible on the
(26:36):
road and I would put it inside amagazine and lead it.
I didn't want anybody.
The only person that knew thatI was looking at this was Ronnie
Ellis, and uh my good buddy,and uh who later came to faith
as well.
Yeah, well, I was saying he wasmy buddy, and yeah, for sure.
So anyway, um this went on andon, and this is in March 12th of
(26:59):
75, and I could talk to youintelligently about the
epistles.
And Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,and I'd and I was good at
memorizing, and he got mememorized the scripture.
And I got up this one morning,and it was March 12th, 75, and
it was Mal's birthday, but Ididn't know it.
I got up and and he had taughtme get up and just talk to the
(27:19):
Lord the way you want to, andread your Bible and ask the Holy
Spirit to speak to you.
So I got up this morning, andand at some point I just said to
the Lord, Lord, there's much Idon't know about you, but I know
one thing.
I know I need forgiveness.
And Mel says that you will wipethe slate clean.
You will forgive me of all thethings that I regretted doing.
(27:42):
And and uh I said, I know Ineed a forgiveness.
And so I asked you to wipe theslate clean, and I want you to
help me be the man you want meto be.
And I found myself saying,Don't you ever expect me to tell
anybody about this, because I'mgonna be a secret service.
And you know, it took me threedays to tell my wife, and
(28:06):
Eleanor grew up in a Christian,and she went to church, she took
our three daughters to church,but I was, and if I went in in
the summertime, because we had Iwas really on the golf course.
I really wasn't, you know.
Brian Stiller (28:18):
So when you when you asked the Lord that, yeah,
even though you gave you toldhim parenthetically that you
were going to tell anybody.
Exactly.
What did you sense?
Did you have any sense ofchange in any?
Paul Henderson (28:32):
Well, I should have been, I've forgotten about
I was telling, I got to tell Iwater.
And so this is took me threedays to drum up enough courage
because she did she said thatshe was so worried about me, she
said, you either do uhsomething well or you don't do
it.
And I was petrified that if youbecome a Christian, you're
gonna get give all our moneyaway and we'll go and live in a
(28:52):
tent in Africa or something likethis, because you get involved.
And so I sent her down and Isaid to her, Eleanor, I've
decided I became a Christian.
I gave my life to the Lord.
And she looked at me and shesaid, Oh, wonderful, and got up
and walked off.
She wanted no part of thisnonsense.
And then I told Mel Stevens, Ifinally told Mel, and and then
(29:14):
uh it just took off from there.
And then the things that uhthat well, one of the biggest
things that I knew God was real,everybody read Playboy.
And I had a, like every otherhockey player, I had a
subscription to it.
And this is about two weeksafter I gave my life to the
Lord.
And I knew the day it came.
I went out there, and sureenough, in the uh in the mailbox
(29:38):
there, and I took it out, and Iknew just like that, you're
never supposed to look at one ofthose again.
What's it?
And I took it, I threw it intothe garbage can, and I had 10 or
12 up in my den.
I had about 12 uh copies of oldones that I liked and looked at
on occasion.
I took them and threw them intothe garbage can, and I said, I
(30:02):
will never watch it.
And thankfully, I've neverlooked at one since.
So that was the one thing Godis real.
He changes you from the insideout.
So that was a defining momentfor you then.
It was very defining.
Very defining.
I never heard his voice oranything like that.
There was nothing, come on tome, or hear a voice or
something.
And it was just a slow process.
Brian Stiller (30:25):
So so was Eleanor comfortable with you having
Playboy magazines around?
Paul Henderson (30:30):
Well, yeah.
And I asked her why.
I mean, she's about it didn'tmatter what I said.
You did what you wanted to doanyway, which was the truth.
Brian Stiller (30:37):
So it so is when she said wonderful and walked
away.
Well, that was about becoming aChristian.
Yes, and so then what happensto her?
Paul Henderson (30:45):
Well, Mel says to me, because she she was very
cold toward him, she did notwant any.
You go to church, you be a niceperson, just be a good person,
that's all you, but you don'tget radical, you don't talk
about the stuff.
And we didn't we didn't readthe Bible or before or have
prayed together or anything.
The only time we prayed is forher at mealtime.
(31:07):
And uh, and so anyway, uh thatuh, but Mel said, just don't
start preaching at her oranything like that.
And but unfortunately, I didn'tlisten to it.
I'd leave an open bell, I'dtake an open Bible and leave her
on her pillow.
Don't ever do that.
She's smacking, who do youthink you are?
(31:29):
But then she said, after aboutthree months, she came and says,
Paul, something's happening toyou.
She said, We went to bed, youalways tossed and turned.
I always went to sleep beforeyou did.
And you sit down to read, andyou can read for 10, 15 minutes,
you get up and you dosomething.
Now you sit there and you canread for 40, you can read for an
hour, and something hashappened.
(31:51):
And so we got her a Bible, uh,told Mel, and um a couple of
months later she gave her lifeto the Lord.
And then we sent our three, ouroldest girls up to T Ranch, and
they gave their life to theLord.
And and then the younger one,uh, in the by the end of uh 75,
the whole Paul Henderson familyhad had uh given their lives to
(32:13):
the Lord.
And I'm so thankful today.
In fact, I 40 years ago,Eleanor and I sat down.
What is the one prayer that wewould like to have answered?
And we talked about that for along time.
And so we've been praying thisprayer for 40 years.
The prayer we would most liketo be answered would be from our
(32:34):
you know, our descendants.
There would be an unbroken lineof people that would love Jesus
and follow Jesus until hereturns.
We've been praying that for 40years.
Brian Stiller (32:47):
What a great prayer.
Paul Henderson (32:49):
And uh when my daughters, sons-in-laws came
along, I told him, you start youcould in this be a part of the
Henderson family.
Brian Stiller (33:00):
This is what you need, and we're so fortunate
that at this point we're so youcome home from Russia, you can
you continue to play hockey,you're led to led to faith,
Eleanor comes to faith, thechildren do, you're still
playing hockey.
What then is going on in yourlife as it relates to your
(33:21):
long-term calling?
Paul Henderson (33:23):
Well, what I really thought I thought about
that, I wanted to do somethingafterwards for sure.
And uh, but I had a sense that,well, what happened when I was
in Birmingham, Alabama, I got amentor down there.
We knew Christian, we went downto Birmingham in 76.
Brian Stiller (33:40):
And Birmingham was the place that you played
hockey under the WHA.
Paul Henderson (33:43):
WHA the Birmingham Bulls.
And we'd become Christians bythat time.
And anyway, we went down thereand we put our girls in a
Christian school down there, andwe were going to this church.
Uh uh, we found this goodchurch, and there was a
businessman came up to me.
I met him a few times, and hesaid, I've got a small group
(34:06):
that I'm just starting, Paul,and uh a discipleship group.
And uh I hear that you're a newChristian, and if you would
like to join, I've got some newones.
And and I said, Oh man, I'dlove to do that.
And this guy became a, he was avery, very intelligent guy,
done very well in business andeverything like that.
And I was in a group with himfor three years.
We met from um 6:30 till eighto'clock on Monday mornings, and
(34:32):
he modeled for me what it was tolove the Lord passionately and
uh live your life in the way.
And then one morning came inand he said to told all of us,
he said, guys, uh pretend you'reat your funeral.
And he said, What do you wantyour wife to be?
If you died, what do you wouldyou like your wife to truthfully
(34:54):
say about you?
Think about your children.
What do you want your childrento say at your funeral?
And what about your friends?
And I thought about that for along time, you know, and then he
said, Paul, one day he said,you should write a purpose
statement for yourself.
Sit down and think about thecharacter qualities of the two
(35:14):
one.
And so I talked to him aboutit, and I had about three pages
of notes, you know, the husbandof wannabe, all that kind of
stuff.
And and then he said to me, hesaid, uh a purpose statement has
to be in one sentence.
I said, one sentence?
What do you tell me?
And I'm a bit competitive.
(35:35):
So I started working with him,and I said, I'm gonna I'm gonna
get it down to three words.
Very competitive guy.
And back back, I think it wasin 1977 and 78, I want to be my
purpose statement to be a godlyworld change agent.
Godly, what's that mean?
I want to live every day in amanner pleasing and honoring to
(35:59):
God.
I said, I wonder if God let mescore that goal, I'm gonna use
it as wide and as far as I can.
And I have spoken in everyprovince.
I've been to what is there,about 28 countries now sharing
my faith.
Been to back to went toSiberia, been back to, and so
(36:23):
that's what the world means.
I I decided that I was gonnatell the world and as widened as
far as I could.
And then change agent.
That's what Mel led me to theLord, and this John Bradford
helped me go.
And I want to be a changeagent.
And that's what I do.
And I came back to Canada in84.
(36:46):
We came back here and Istarted.
Well, what happened?
I was in this church, and mypastor and John came to me and
he said, We got some new peoplethat have just given their life
to the Lord, Paul, and we need aleader.
And Paul, we want you to lead.
I can't do that.
I've only been a Christian forthree years.
And sometimes you need peoplethat have more confidence in you
(37:07):
than you have in yourself.
And so uh John came to me andhe says, Paul, he said, really,
he said, the last six or sevenmonths, he says, you've been
really your passion, yourdiscipline, and your enthusiasm.
He said, I've just been sittingback walking eat watching you,
and you can do this.
But he said, Paul, don't try tolead like I do.
(37:28):
Our personalities are totally.
So don't try to be anybody elsebut yourself.
And so anyway, they prayed forme and I took it on and I loved
it.
And the guys were like comingon to it.
And then when I retired, I I toLord, I'd I want you to go back
to Canada and I want you to dothis to the Paul Henderson's
(37:48):
world.
You you you you had thatimpression?
I had the how did it come toyou?
Well, I just I guess the HolySpirit talked to me.
I I knew that I was called.
I really felt that God iscalled to what?
Called the ministry.
Okay.
Because I was up in the air ofdoing things, and I remember I
woke up one night and and wedidn't know whether to stay in
(38:09):
the States or come back.
And I was, and I said, uh, Iwoke up one night, I think it
was about a quarter after one inthe morning, and I and I had a
Bible beside my back, and Iopened the Bible, and and um
actually it was back in Canadathat I was staying with my
sister, brother-in-law, andEleanor was still in Birmingham,
(38:29):
and I said, Lord, I need that,I need an answer here.
I opened my Bible and then Iturned on the light, and uh just
when I looked down, and it wasin uh Isaiah, and I heard the
voice of the Lord saying, Whowill go for me?
And I said, Here am I.
(38:49):
And honest to God, I thoughtGod, I thought Jesus was in the
room.
And I phoned Eleanor the nextday and told her, and she hung
up.
Another wonderful way.
But I just had that I I I justI knew that God and I didn't
want to do it.
And like I wanted to besuccessful, I wanted to have a
(39:12):
career, and well, then I wasoffered a job being on
television, uh you know,commentary and that, and and
anyway, they went to Ballard andthey need Nixon.
He said, That sucker is notcoming into this building, and
and he wouldn't allow it, sothat shut that door.
And then I thought, oh, well,I'm going to the financial
(39:34):
world.
But anyway, it uh
Brian Stiller (39:36):
so you came back to Canada?
Paul Henderson (39:37):
Came back to Canada.
Brian Stiller (39:38):
And how did I start?
Paul Henderson (39:40):
I started, well, what happened?
I was only uh I was not verylong I was here.
My pastor in Florida or inBirmingham phoned me and he
says, Paul, there's a doctorthat's just moved up here.
He's a surgeon, and and uhwe've just led him to the Lord.
And I told him about you.
And what you did.
(40:01):
And so I told him that I'mgoing to get you to call him.
And he gave me his name.
And so I phoned him.
And he said, Yeah, Frank toldme you're going to call him.
And he said, What are youdoing?
And this was a Friday.
And he said, What are you doingtomorrow night?
I said, I haven't gottenanything really planned.
And he said, Well, I metanother doctor at our uh uh at
(40:25):
our work, and I've invited himand his wife to come.
So why don't you come uh to thedinner?
I said, Well, fine.
So I go over, and it turns outthis other guy was a Christian.
The other doctor was aChristian too.
And so anyway, we sat down andI told him what I wanted to do,
is there what I was doing.
And the guy says, I've neverbeen in a group, Paul.
(40:47):
I would love to do that.
And of course, he wasinterested.
I said, Well, well, and I so Isaid to him, do you have any
friends of yours that are justout to one spiritually?
And the doctor that lived here,I don't want to mention his
name, but anyway, he said, I gota next-door neighbor that is a
great guy, and I've been tryingto get him to come to church,
(41:09):
and he won't do it.
But she is a crazy hockey fan,and I know that he would love to
meet you.
So anyway, he invited him.
The three of us had went to thehospital downtown, was a
Western hospital.
And uh, and then we met forabout three weeks, and I said,
guys, why don't we have abreakfast?
(41:30):
And help it invite some of thepeople that, you know, are out
to lunch there, and I'll talk alittle about the face thing, and
then you can talk about what,you know.
And uh, well, the neighbor cameback and he he got involved for
the three weeks.
He knew he wanted to do it too.
He said he told Robbie, I'monly gonna come once.
But so anyway, we had about 14people came and we did that, and
(41:55):
then I ended up and we invitedthem, and then I had 12 in that
group.
And that's what I started with,one group.
And then a few months later, aguy in Hamilton, a lawyer,
wanted me to come over and speakover there.
And so we got together and Itold him what I was doing.
And I said, if you get someguys together, I'll drive over
here and we'll start one here.
(42:15):
And he said, I've been aChristian all my life.
I love the idea.
And so I ended up with 11 guysover in Hamilton, and that was
the two groups that I grew.
And uh, and to start with, I Isat down and I want to, this one
I want to go.
I want to start small, go deep,think big, finish well.
(42:36):
So uh start small.
I knew that I didn't want toexpand.
I wanted find out of how to dothe groups and everything.
And so I said, I'm gonna givemyself two, three years just on
building two or three groups andand and uh and start small,
then go deep, take them deepspiritually, get them to getting
up and having their quiet timein the morning and making the
(42:58):
Lord a part of their life as ahusband, a father, and all that
kind of stuff.
And then I think it and Iwanted to get a movement.
And so my goal was to get 25groups going.
I think, man, if I can get withgood leadership, I'll have a
movement going.
And then the last thing isalways finish well, don't screw
up.
You know, and every morning youget up and and so uh anyway,
(43:20):
when I got cancer in 09, uh, wehad about uh well, we got well
the lawyer that in Hamilton, I II was running it myself, but
I'm an administrative nightmare.
And I went over and I had lunchwith him every two weeks for a
year, trying to get him to giveup his his law career and come
(43:43):
on and work with me as myadministrator.
And so it took me several yearsto get him to come on, but he
came on, um, Freddie Christmaswas his name, and and then we
took off.
Brian Stiller (43:54):
And so how many groups have you had over these
years?
Paul Henderson (43:57):
Oh gosh.
Well, when I got cancer, we haduh about uh uh we had that was
an 09.
Uh and so I think we had about80 groups going then at that
point.
And when I got cancer, I knewthat I had, and they told me I
might I was diagnosed in uh 09,and uh they told me I might have
(44:21):
five years.
So I had leukemia and leukemia,well, I still have them today,
lymphoma and leukemia.
And so there was a guy that wasin one of our groups in that up
here, and he was uh uhsuperintendent, and he had
retired.
And so I talked him into comingover and and taking over the
ministry for me.
And he'd been in a group for 10years by this time, and so I
(44:44):
got him to do it, and and thatreally changed things.
I I I was I ran a pretty goodmom and pop shop, but I'm a
disciple maker.
I'm not a strategy just indeveloping the prayer.
And he came on, and that's whenit really took off.
And uh today we're in, I thinkit's uh 70 countries, leader
(45:05):
impact.
We've got uh we've now achange, we've got men's groups,
we've got women's groups now,and we've got mixed groups
because a lot of women are CEOsof that kind of stuff now, and
and so it's uh it's just takenoff when so
Brian Stiller (45:21):
so now you and I are close to the same age, you
look back on on that, and umwhat what's the most important
thing you've learned infollowing Jesus?
Paul Henderson (45:34):
What's the most important thing?
Well, I think that's probablywhat it is, it's following
Jesus.
He says, uh Mark 8.12, he says,I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will notwalk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.
Walking in darkness, nothinggood happens there.
(45:56):
And I know the difference.
And so I that's what I I uhalthough there's a uh one of the
guys in my group, you know,very devout Christian, is the
chief operating officer of a bigcorporation.
He says, My purpose in life isto help you find your purpose in
(46:17):
life.
Isn't that terrific?
And I think that's but I thinkGod, you know, like I'm I'm I'm
here to tell people about Jesusand and uh like I you never
argued by anybody.
I know what I believe, and Iknow why I believe.
Brian Stiller (46:33):
Okay.
Paul Henderson (46:34):
And that's what I try to share.
Brian Stiller (46:36):
So you this walking in the light.
Uh Richard Mouw talks about howin the city of God in
Revelation, the Lamb is thelight.
And of course, that metaphorcomes at a time when there was
(46:56):
no light, when dark when whenthe sun set in the Middle East
at the time of Jesus, everythingwas dark apart from the star
shining and the odd fire bonfireburning.
So darkness was absolute, solight was transformative.
So how have you walked in thelight?
What has helped you to stay outof darkness in light?
Paul Henderson (47:19):
Well, I get up every morning.
And Mel Stevens, he was the guythat taught me that.
And and even to this day, soonas I and I'm a morning person,
thank goodness I am.
And the first thing I do is saythe Lord's Prayer.
I don't let any thoughts intomy mind.
And as I pray it, you know, thethe thing is, uh, may your work
be a um be the thy kingdomcome, your will be done on
(47:45):
earth, and then I add in earthand in my life as it is a
heaven.
I pray that every morning andat night when I go to bed also.
And so I start the day rightwith the Lord.
And then I I have a time, Ibecause I Eleanor just she
struggles with health and shedoesn't get up early.
So I usually have an hour and ahalf to two hours by myself
(48:08):
every morning that I'm don't goout to, you know, a men's group
or something like that.
And so I just refuse to startthe day without the Lord.
And I unashamably asked him,you know, for help.
And I tell you, Brian, I prayevery day, Lord, save me from
myself and the devil.
Because no one ever arrives,and you can always go deeper.
(48:33):
No one I I don't in our church,I love this in our church.
This are it says the loveJesus, live like Jesus, continue
to learn from Jesus, and leadothers to Jesus.
And that's my marching ordersevery day.
Brian Stiller (48:51):
Paul, someone's listening to your story, and
they're they may have noinclination to towards faith or
trusting in Christ.
Or maybe they have got badmemories of church or someone
who disappointed them.
Or maybe they've just it's allcomplex and they're they're
(49:12):
stewing around.
Where might they begin?
Paul Henderson (49:17):
Well, I would say if you're not if you don't
exactly, if you're not content,find somebody that you know, a
good friend.
Usually have a Christiansomewhere, ask him about it.
Or the other thing that I woulddo, find a good church, or
hopefully, that will uh uh couldlearn from a pastor.
(49:39):
Like our if we're we're leadingpeople to the Lord all the
time, baptizing people.
And so, but but the whole thingas I tell people just who just
look into who is this Jesus?
And that's what Mel got me todo.
And and and if you look at theall the evidence for it, and
there's some great books uh likeC.S.
(49:59):
Lewis, Mere Christianity, someof these good books that that uh
uh that you can go, but but youcan't make it on your own.
You need help.
Listen to podcasts, listen tothis one, listen to other
people.
And so ask questions.
In our groups, we did guys thatthere's no dumb questions.
You can ask anything you want,and there are answers, but
(50:23):
nobody is perfect, and everybodyis different, Brian.
That's the thing about it.
And what works for one personmay not work for another.
So when I'm talking to somebodythat I've just met or
something, I always try to findout where they're hurting,
because they if it is marriage,your kids, or whatever it is,
and then whatever it whateverthe case would be, I said, Well,
(50:45):
how are you handling?
And then I might just bring thefaith into it.
But a lot of people I just askpeople out too, if I'm having
conversations with, I said, Doyou have a spiritual side to
your life?
And they usually say, Well,what do you mean by that?
And I said, Well, do you havefaith in anything like that?
And and they'll say, Well, I'mI'm a religious person.
(51:05):
And I say, Well, I'm notreligious at all.
I don't have, you know,religion is a religious person
is somebody that's trying toplease God by living.
And I know I'm never going tobe good enough to do that, and
so it's all by grace.
So I'm I'm wandering here, soI'm looking to bring it to the
Brian Stiller (51:28):
Paul.
This is a good wandering.
It's a good wandering becauseyou're musing.
And we muse, we think, we feel,we wonder.
And as I listen to your storytoday, the the way God has
brought into your life the LordJesus, and the Spirit has taken
(51:50):
your natural gifts and andleadership and encouraging
others, and uh use that Russiansummit goal, that lousy goal you
said, as a way to springboardyou into this global ministry.
It's been wonderful listeningto you, and uh I've I've watched
you over these years uh and tomy friends who are who are
(52:14):
listening to this podcast, uh,this guy is is real.
And uh I just thank you so muchfor joining us in Evangelical
360 today.
Thank you.
Paul Henderson (52:26):
My pleasure.
Brian Stiller (52:27):
Thank you.
Thanks, Paul, for joining metoday and telling us a story
which I'm sure you have told somany times.
But for me, it's one I nevertire of hearing.
And to you, my friend, thankyou for being a part of the
podcast.
Uh, be sure to share thisepisode and join the
conversation on YouTube.
(52:47):
And if you haven't alreadysubscribed, hit the subscribe
button.
If you'd like to learn moreabout today's guest, check the
show notes for links and info.
And if you haven't alreadyreceived my free ebook and
newsletter, just go toBrianstiller.com.
Thanks again.
Until next time.
Don't miss the next interview.
(53:12):
Be sure to subscribe toEvangelical 360 on YouTube.
Hello and welcome to Evangelical 360.
I'm your host, Brian Stiller.
People often tell me where theywere when they heard that John
F.
Kennedy had been shot, or whatthey were doing when they heard
John Paul II, too, had beenshot.
These two events, I too cantell where I was and what I was
(00:30):
doing.
But I can really tell youexactly where I was when I
watched Paul Henderson shoot thewinning goal as Canada beat
Russia in the World HockeySummit Series in 1972.
In Game 8, with 34 seconds leftin the game, Canada won 6-5.
And let's not forget thatHenderson scored two goals in
(00:54):
this last game and scored thewinning goals in each of the
last three games they had withthe Russians.
Indeed, this event inHenderson's winning goal is
often touted as being the mostimportant sports event in
Canada's 20th century.
Remember, we were in the middleof a Cold War.
Canada was a humble, ratherunheralded nation, and we
(01:18):
Canadians felt that.
Yet on that very day, schoolclassrooms were hushed as TVs
were brought in for students towatch.
Government offices stoppedtheir work.
We all stood by watching.
It's not an overstatement tosay that this was indeed an
iconic moment for Canadians.
So who is this guy?
(01:40):
This hockey player who stoodCanada on its nose, who shot up
Canada's proverbial spine, a newdignity, a newly found pride,
for a time setting aside theusual humility which seems to
characterize us globally.
He returned to Canada from thisonce in a century moment and
(02:00):
became another person.
Paul Henderson went on to servein Christian faith, building
pockets of those who decidedthat their walk of faith, their
trust in the risen Christ, meantmore than a hockey career.
You'll want to hear his story.
And for you watching, thanksfor joining me today to hear
this sports story from PaulHenderson.
(02:22):
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Now to my guest, PaulHenderson.
Paul Henderson, wonderful tohave you on Evangelical 360.
Paul Henderson (02:41):
Great to be here.
Brian Stiller (02:43):
You're an icon in Canada, as as as you know,
you're too humble to admit it.
I said in my opener that I knewexactly where I was that day
when you won the Russian summituh event.
How did you get into hockey?
How did all this begin?
Paul Henderson (03:00):
Well, I grew up in a little village of Lucknow.
And uh like a lot of kids,
Brian Stiller (03:06):
uh that's in the Toronto area?
Paul Henderson (03:08):
No, no, it's up near uh Goderich, near Lake
Heron, Lake Heron area.
And uh I I just took to itright off the bat.
And unfortunately for me, wedidn't have artificial ice, and
so uh played a lot on the roadsback then.
They didn't assign them, but uhbut we were dirt poor.
And uh I never got a pair ofskates till I was nine.
(03:30):
And uh I was a little slowstunter and journeys getting on
the ice.
But uh I loved all sports anduh hockey was the one.
And uh when I was in gradefive, I decided that I was going
to be a NHL hockey player.
Brian Stiller (03:46):
An NHL for our international people is the
National Hockey League, which isthe North American Pro Hockey
League.
Paul Henderson (03:51):
Yeah, exactly.
And so I started practicing myautograph because I knew when I
got to the NHL, you're not gonnahave chicken scratch.
You're gonna know that I'm PaulHenderson, and I have excellent
penmanship today because ingrade five, that's when I wanted
to do.
Brian Stiller (04:08):
How in the world did that come to you as a as a
what uh 10, 12-year-old boy?
Paul Henderson (04:14):
Yeah, uh well, all my heroes were the hockey
players.
I used to listen, my dad and I,he was a big hockey fan too,
and we listened to Foster Hewitton Saturday night.
That was before there wastelevision on there.
And then we'd come and so Ijust you know decided that's
what it's gonna be.
(04:35):
And uh thank goodness I madeit.
Brian Stiller (04:38):
How did you break into the NHL?
Paul Henderson (04:41):
Well, I uh but in Lucknow, like I said, we
didn't have it.
And I we were uh we there was auh a tournament in Goderich,
Pee Wee Tournament, uh way backthen, and 50, 60 teams would
come.
And I got my name in the papera couple of times, scored six
goals in one of the games, andso there was a little chatter.
(05:02):
But then when I was 15, when Iwas 15, uh we uh I scored 18
goals in one game.
And the way you score 18 goalsin one game, you need a very bad
goaltender.
But just uh I was a completeplayer.
I had 18 goals and two assists.
We beat this team 21 to 6.
(05:23):
And of course, the name got inthe paper, and then they came up
and started uh scouting meafter that.
And in Detroit, I Detroit,Toronto, and um Boston wanted me
to come to their camps, and Idecided Gordy Hell was my
favorite player.
And and so uh, and they had ateam, Detroit owned the team in
Hamilton, and it was the closestone to Lucknow.
(05:46):
And so uh that's where I playeda year junior B in Goderich,
which was only 20 miles fromwhere I grew up.
And then I went there and we uh62, we won the Memorial Cup.
What a great spell that was.
And then turned pro the nextyear and ended up with Detroit
and played 18 years of prohockey.
So had a great time.
Brian Stiller (06:08):
And of course, Canada and Russia, the two great
hockey empires, they were at uhnose to nose from for years.
And the summit in 72, did youplan on that, or how did that
come about?
Paul Henderson (06:24):
Well, they I I think it was actually that the
Russians came and they hadthey'd been working on this for
a couple of years.
They challenged us, and so theyput it together four games in
Canada, four games back inMoscow, and uh and we knew they
were great hockey players, butthe power we had, like you know,
you've got Esposito, Cournoyerand Frank Mahovlich, and you
(06:48):
know, oh
Brian Stiller (06:49):
Andy Bathgate.
Paul Henderson (06:50):
Well, he didn't play then.
He was he wasn't on the team[audio from broadcast inserted] ,
but we just had a powerhouse.
(07:24):
Yeah, we had twelve Hall ofFamers on.
And so I I, you know, if ourgoaltenders, I thought if our
goaltenders have a bad night,then their goaltenders play,
well, you know, may tie a gameor win a game, but I didn't
think there would be.
But uh unfortunately we did wewe didn't take them seriously
enough because when we went totraining camp, and the other
(07:46):
thing too, there was 35 of uschosen, and there's only 17 guys
that can play.
And uh it made it tough.
And a lot of I we were RonnieEllis and I played with Normie
Ullman, and we played on a line,and I thought we'd be chosen as
a line, but they uh theyNormie didn't make it.
(08:07):
So Ronnie, Ronnie and I knew wewere going to be together, and
we looked at there were sevenright-wingers, left-wingers, and
center rights.
We looked at them, we werehoping we'd get Stan Makita,
good playmaker.
And uh, but anyway, we go tocamp and uh uh uh apparently
somebody turned it down and theyinvited Bobby Clarke, who was
just a 21-year-old kid at thetime.
(08:28):
And we didn't want to get himfor sure because if we looked at
all the lines, and the best wecould be was maybe five.
Or if we get Clarke, we'regonna be seven.
And so we go to first practice,and Ronnie Ellis, Paul
Henderson, and Bobby Clarke.
So after the practice was over,uh, we went out and had a pop.
I think most of made it.
(08:49):
But uh Ronnie and I told him wewant to play in Toronto, so why
don't we go out there and workour tails off and show them that
we can compete?
And maybe we might be theshutdown line.
If they need a line, we're allgood defensive players.
And so, yeah, but we didn'tpark very much, but you don't
have to tell him anything aboutit because he and so we went to
(09:13):
camp and we worked our tailsoff.
And we played a red-white game.
Our side won 5-2.
I scored two goals, and Clarkegot a goal.
And I mean, we knew we weregoing to play in the first game,
and we we, you know, but someguys, I mean, there was a couple
of guys never worked up asweat.
I mean, there it was just ajoke.
Well, then we took found out inthe first game how good the
(09:35):
Russians were.
They couldn't, Hall of Famerscouldn't get us out of the
lineup.
We were the only line thatplayed all eight games.
Brian Stiller (09:44):
And uh so the first four games were in Canada.
Yeah.
And and uh what was the win winloss there?
Paul Henderson (09:50):
Well, we we uh kneeled in Montreal.
Well, Montreal what my coachmade a bad mistake, Sinden.
He only dressed fivedefensemen.
Well, after the second period,those five guys were dead.
Their legs were like, you know.
So anyway, we lost there, wetied here in Toronto, and Peter
Mahovlich scored a shoulderhanded goal in the third period
(10:11):
that allowed us to win thatgame.
And I think it was where bothin Toronto.
Yeah, we second game was inToronto.
Montreal Toronto scored thatgoal, and that, you know, set
thank goodness we did that.
We went to Winnipeg, we tied inWinnipeg, and we went to uh
Vancouver, and uh, they scoredtwo power play goals right off
(10:32):
the bat.
And we did not have a goodgame, the whole team did.
And and so we had we go toRussia and we know that we've
got to win three games overthere, and we lost the first
game in Moscow.
So actually, in that game, Igot a I had a concussion.
I I beat a guy on the outside,but he tripped me and I went
into the boards backwards.
(10:53):
And Jim Murray, the doctor, uhexamined me and after I got
straightened around a bit, andhe told me I had a concussion
and I had to take my equipmentoff.
Well, Harry Sinden came in andtold me the same thing.
And I said to Harry, please,please don't let me do that.
I'll take care of myself.
Please let me play.
And he looked at me and said,Well, we sure as hell need you.
(11:16):
And if you want to play, I'mnot gonna stop you.
Like today, I'd have never beenleft back on the ice.
And so So you got back on theice and uh went up back out and
then uh scored the winning goalin game six, game seven, and
game eight, the last game.
Uh I told my wife after we lostthe first game in Moscow,
because we played the thirdperiod almost short-handed, the
(11:38):
whole thing, called everypenalty they could on us.
But I said, if we don't win thelast three games, we're gonna
be known as the biggest losersin the history of Canadian
hockey.
And I think all of us uh reallybelieve that.
And so
Brian Stiller (11:51):
So what was the spirit in the uh the dressing
room?
Paul Henderson (11:55):
The one thing about the Canadians, like we
never give up.
And you know, Tarasov said wecan compete with the Canadians
and we can skate with them,shoot with them, everything like
that.
But he says we just can'thandle the spirit they have,
they just never give up.
They just keep coming back atyou.
And that's what we did.
(12:15):
And we in the third game, thelast game after the second
period, we're losing 5-3.
And I went over and I tookKenny Dryden and I hit his my
stick with the goalie.
Yeah, he was playing that game,and I said, You board this
sucker up for us and we'll winthe game.
But if you cannot let anothergoal in.
(12:35):
And I said, And what was thescore at that point?
5-3.
They were living 5-3 in thethird period.
And then uh Esposito scores uhuh right off.
First shift, Mahovlich gamewith uh a pass in the slot.
He's tied up, and thenCournoyer started up at uh at
about 12-minute mark, and theRussians come down and they told
(12:57):
us if the game ended up on atie, because there's gonna be no
overtime, they were gonna claima victory because they scored
one more goal than we did.
And they said that they weregonna claim victory.
So the game goes on and it'stied.
And our line came up.
Ronnie Ellis, Bobby Clarke, andI were on the ice, and we come
off with about a minute and ahalf left.
(13:18):
And Sinden sent out Esposito,Cournoyer, and Peter Mohavlich.
And the next line up was twoHall of Famers, John uh Rod
Gilbert and Jean Ratelle, and uhDennis Hull was playing on that
line at that time.
And anyway, I figured it's allover for me, but Harry Sinden
(13:39):
came down, sent them out, and hesaid, guys, if there's any time
left, you guys have it.
So I'm sitting there, and aboutthe one-minute mark, I did
something I never did before,never did it again.
And maybe because I'd scoredthe two winning goals before, I
got to get on the ice.
And I started yelling at PeterMahovlich.
Never did that before at all.
(14:00):
And thank God he'd come off andI jump over the boards.
And you know what irritates me?
I scored seven goals.
Six were really nice goals.
The only goal was a garbagegoal as the last one.
And I didn't know Hendersonmakes a wild stab for it and
falls.
Describe it.
Well, what happened?
(14:21):
I torn my head at the far side.
I'm a right-hand shot, and I'mcoming across, and I was the one
timer, like uh Matthews, youknow.
One timer, but it was too farout in front of me.
And uh I was reaching for it,and the defenseman put a stick
between my legs, and I crashedinto the boards behind.
(14:41):
And I remember I still havetime because I went through the
whole team the game before.
And all of a sudden, Phillacked that treachery, and he
said, never have let the reboundgo.
And I panicked.
Oh my god.
And I got it and I shot it, andhe stopped it with his pad, but
it came right back to me, andhe was down, and I had about a
foot to put it in and jumpedinto Cournoyer's arms, and I
(15:05):
still haven't quit celebrating.
Brian Stiller (15:08):
Did you have any idea?
Well, you you you said thatwhen you went into those three,
if you if you lose the if youlose this series, you'll be
known as the biggest losers inCanada.
So you knew how important thatmeant offer culturally to this
uh this country back in 72, wemaybe have 25 million people.
We're kind of we're we're thepoor cousins of the Americans
(15:29):
and we're the lost cousins of ofthe UK.
But when you scored that goaland when you won the series, did
you have any anticipation as towhat that meant to us?
Paul Henderson (15:42):
No, I don't think I did.
I did well, I knew it was big.
And uh, but the the thing I'dlike to tell you there was three
three uh thousand Canadianscome over there, and we would
have never won that serieswithout, I really believe that
because even in in the firstgame, we lost the game, and you
(16:04):
had to stand and listen to thethe anthem of and it was the
Russian national anthem is awonderful piece of music, but
very long when you lose.
Yeah, and we're we lose it withskating off those three, they
stood up and gave us a standingovation.
I can remember it likeyesterday, and it was a
miserable night in Moscow.
(16:24):
We get back to the hotel maybean hour later.
There were several hundredoutside the hotel.
We got off the bus, they wentcrazy again.
The fact that most of them werehammered has got nothing to do
with it.
But and then they sang thenational anthem the last three
games.
I'm on the sitting therelistening to the sing.
(16:46):
I have bumps on my arm.
I mean, that you could just,and they and they cheered us on
like it was, and the Russians,all they could do was whistle.
Because according to communism,if you ever started doing
anything, you get thrown outlike, and so these Canadians
were going crazy, and and thethey didn't, they didn't, they
(17:08):
the the the KGB or the uh armypeople didn't know what the heck
to do.
And the guy from Montreal, theguy that always played the
trumpet in Montreal, and theytried to get he would start
blowing it, and they tried toget him passed down.
It was really funny.
But anyway.
Brian Stiller (17:26):
So then you come home.
Paul Henderson (17:28):
Yeah.
Brian Stiller (17:29):
Uh and the the media.
I remember going down to apractice at the Maple Leaf
Gardens uh about a couple ofweeks after you got back.
And I just sat watching thepractice.
And we met, you probablyforgot, but we met then.
I because I was hoping we coulddo something else because of
(17:52):
your stardom.
But when you get back and allof a sudden you're on the you're
on the front pages ofeverything, you're on the you're
on the news constantly.
Did this I mean, years beforeyou had learned to sign your
name uh with a flourish, but didyou ever think this would come
your way?
Paul Henderson (18:11):
Oh, never, in a hundred years.
And it was too much too fast.
Like, you know, uh like uh Iwas a good hockey player, but I
didn't have I mean, so many guyswere much better playing hockey
than I was, and I wasn't acelebrity in the sense.
I I was known as a good hockeyplayer, but this changed
(18:32):
everything.
And everybody wanted me to dothings, and uh and my wife and
I, she was always protective,but you know, it was just too
much.
And uh when I look back on itnow too, that uh we'd get into a
game and it was close and thatkind of stuff, and I'd step on
the ice and people would okay,he's gonna do it again.
(18:54):
And really, I was trying to dothings that I shouldn't have
been trying to do.
And it was really a tough timefor me.
It really was until I gotsettled.
And of course, Ballard had ahockey team.
He was he owned the Maple LeafGardens.
Yeah, he owned the team, andand uh He was bizarre at best,
wasn't he?
Well, exactly, and and that'swhy jumped to the WHA.
(19:15):
Well, actually The World HockeyAssociation.
Brian Stiller (19:18):
That was a competitive league to the NHL.
Paul Henderson (19:21):
And offering a lot of money, and they'd been
after me even before thatseries, and they're you know,
guys that could score.
And so uh Johnny Bassett came.
He had the he bought the theWHA franchise uh franchise, and
and he came to me and uh hesaid, Paul, I'd really like to
(19:41):
I'd Frank, I'm I've signed Frankuh Mahovlich, and I'd really
like to have you that, and we'removing from into Toronto Maple
Leaf Gardens, and we're gonnaplay.
And so he asked me what I wasmaking with the leaves, and I
told him, he said, I'll doubleyour contract and give you a
signing bonus.
No puning.
And I said to him, gosh, I, youknow, like I've never ever won
(20:04):
the Stanley Cup.
And that's why I haven't goneto the WH.
Everybody wants to win it.
I desperately want to.
And he said, Well, why don'tyou talk to Frank?
So I phoned Frank and I said,Frank, I hear that you're going
to.
And he said, Yeah, I've got todeal with them a great deal.
And I said, gosh, I'd like totake the money.
(20:24):
But I said, I want to win theStanley Cup.
And he said to me, Paul, if youwant to win it, you better get
out of Toronto.
Because they will never win itwith Harold Ballard there.
Because if they don't, if youdon't have it upstairs, you'd
never get it on the ice.
And it's all about him.
And I thought about that.
And I said, he's right.
(20:44):
And so thank goodness.
One of the best things I everdid was jump to the WHA and get
away from here.
Brian Stiller (20:50):
But let me go back to something you just said.
And that relates to being abeing a sport, being in sports.
You had a passion to win theStanley Cup.
What is there in the mind, inthe heart of a, in your case, a
hockey player who that meanseverything?
What what breeds that?
(21:11):
What how how does that work?
Paul Henderson (21:13):
I think it's in our DNA in Canada.
You ask any guy in the TorontoMaple Leaf today if he could do
something, you and she'd tell itwin the Stanley Cup.
What is there about that?
I don't know.
It's just it's an innate thing.
I and I don't, I'm not sure theAmericans would even say that.
But it candidates our game.
But like we're a small country.
(21:34):
We don't what are what are theyreally the best at in it?
And I'll tell you when theOlympics come around and that
kind of stuff.
Oh my gosh, it just our countrystops as we watch.
Oh yeah.
Well, I was down, we went downto the uh uh the Four Nations
Cup in February.
And uh Eleanor and I went downand and they had some of the 72
(21:57):
guys, and there were six of us,but there were those storms at
that time.
But that tell that that arenawas just electric.
And I we were there, and youknow, and oh my gracious, it it
it just something you can'texplain even.
And you know, like I'm in my80s, and I mean I'm into this
(22:20):
stuff.
Brian Stiller (22:21):
Crazy.
So Paul, you you get back fromRussia, you go through you go
through the uh the problems ofthe uh of the of the of the NHL
franchise in Toronto, which isthe Maple Leafs, and you go to
the competing uh World HockeyAssociation.
But then your life comes into atransition uh in by way of
(22:44):
faith.
But were you raised in a homewhere faith was part of your
growing up?
No.
Paul Henderson (22:50):
Uh my father, um I didn't meet my father until I
was two years old.
He went overseas in Septemberof 42, and I was born in January
of 43.
And uh my mother, she was uhshe believed in God for sure.
And uh I and she would be aChristian, but and apparently
(23:12):
dad had a faith before he wentover there, but when he came
home, he wouldn't go near thechurch.
Uh, never did.
And so when your dad doesn't,then uh and I used to go on
occasion, but I never really Iwas all about being, I wanted to
prove to myself that I can besuccessful.
And I hated being poor.
And so my whole life was aroundbeing successful and being
(23:37):
financially secure.
I wanted to give my wife andfamily things that, you know,
that I was never able to.
And so after 72, what happened?
A guy by the name of MelStevens, who started a Teen
Ranch just upside up nearOrangeville, knocked at my door
one day and came.
And he won, he asked me to beuh if I would work at his hockey
(23:58):
school, if they did a kid'shockey school.
This is after you've come backfrom yeah, this was in February
of uh 73.
So this is a few months after.
And so I said to him, Yeah,what do you pay?
Yeah, because I did thosethings, you got paid pretty
good.
And he said, Well, we're aChristian camp.
And he said, uh we can't affordto give you anything, you'd
(24:20):
have to donate your time.
And so do I did not know whoyou were talking to.
And then he says to me, Hesaid, Paul, I see you, I've done
a little research on youbecause I never met him before.
And he said, he said, I knowyou got a great marriage and
family, you're the toast ofCanada.
And he said, you'd think thatyou'd be one of the most
(24:41):
satisfied guys in the world.
But he said, I see you andinterviewed on television, and
you always seem like you got anedge to yourself.
It just seems to me you don'tseem to be a very contented guy.
And I said, Am I wearing asign?
No one ever said that.
And you know something?
After about two months after Iscored that goal, I said to my
wife Eleanor, who is thegreatest woman in the world, I
(25:04):
said to her, Noah, I I I,Eleanor, there's something
missing.
I just feel we're missingsomething.
And I'm, you know, and uh andso anyway, uh I said, well, I
said that I should have told himthis.
I said to him now, well, if youhad to play for Harold Ballard,
you'd be kicked off too, youknow, kind of still.
(25:26):
And then he said, Paul, haveyou ever looked at the spiritual
side of life?
I said, no, I don't get twothings I don't get into.
I don't get into politics, andI don't get into religion,
because there's always argumentsand everything like that.
And he said to me, Paul, youcan learn to live freely and
lightly, but you got to look atthe spiritual side of life.
(25:47):
And I said, Well, I've tried toread the Bible, but it doesn't
make any sense to me.
And he said, Well, Paul, if youwant to, I'll help you.
And yeah, I'll get togetherwith you and I'll get you a
modern translation.
I said, the these, the thou's,and you know that kind of stuff.
And so he got me um, we got aBible, and I started meeting
with him probably every twoweeks.
(26:09):
And uh we've meant this for twoyears.
Because when you start, you'rea skeptic.
And uh so what was going on inyour mind as you as you're
meeting with them and readingthe Bible?
Just who is this Jesus?
And he finally like, it's allabout who who is Jesus?
Is he who he says he is, andwhat does he?
So anyway, um I in fact I Iused to take my Bible on the
(26:36):
road and I would put it inside amagazine and lead it.
I didn't want anybody.
The only person that knew thatI was looking at this was Ronnie
Ellis, and uh my good buddy,and uh who later came to faith
as well.
Yeah, well, I was saying he wasmy buddy, and yeah, for sure.
So anyway, um this went on andon, and this is in March 12th of
(26:59):
75, and I could talk to youintelligently about the
epistles.
And Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,and I'd and I was good at
memorizing, and he got mememorized the scripture.
And I got up this one morning,and it was March 12th, 75, and
it was Mal's birthday, but Ididn't know it.
I got up and and he had taughtme get up and just talk to the
(27:19):
Lord the way you want to, andread your Bible and ask the Holy
Spirit to speak to you.
So I got up this morning, andand at some point I just said to
the Lord, Lord, there's much Idon't know about you, but I know
one thing.
I know I need forgiveness.
And Mel says that you will wipethe slate clean.
You will forgive me of all thethings that I regretted doing.
(27:42):
And and uh I said, I know Ineed a forgiveness.
And so I asked you to wipe theslate clean, and I want you to
help me be the man you want meto be.
And I found myself saying,Don't you ever expect me to tell
anybody about this, because I'mgonna be a secret service.
And you know, it took me threedays to tell my wife, and
(28:06):
Eleanor grew up in a Christian,and she went to church, she took
our three daughters to church,but I was, and if I went in in
the summertime, because we had Iwas really on the golf course.
I really wasn't, you know.
Brian Stiller (28:18):
So when you when you asked the Lord that, yeah,
even though you gave you toldhim parenthetically that you
were going to tell anybody.
Exactly.
What did you sense?
Did you have any sense ofchange in any?
Paul Henderson (28:32):
Well, I should have been, I've forgotten about
I was telling, I got to tell Iwater.
And so this is took me threedays to drum up enough courage
because she did she said thatshe was so worried about me, she
said, you either do uhsomething well or you don't do
it.
And I was petrified that if youbecome a Christian, you're
gonna get give all our moneyaway and we'll go and live in a
(28:52):
tent in Africa or something likethis, because you get involved.
And so I sent her down and Isaid to her, Eleanor, I've
decided I became a Christian.
I gave my life to the Lord.
And she looked at me and shesaid, Oh, wonderful, and got up
and walked off.
She wanted no part of thisnonsense.
And then I told Mel Stevens, Ifinally told Mel, and and then
(29:14):
uh it just took off from there.
And then the things that uhthat well, one of the biggest
things that I knew God was real,everybody read Playboy.
And I had a, like every otherhockey player, I had a
subscription to it.
And this is about two weeksafter I gave my life to the
Lord.
And I knew the day it came.
I went out there, and sureenough, in the uh in the mailbox
(29:38):
there, and I took it out, and Iknew just like that, you're
never supposed to look at one ofthose again.
What's it?
And I took it, I threw it intothe garbage can, and I had 10 or
12 up in my den.
I had about 12 uh copies of oldones that I liked and looked at
on occasion.
I took them and threw them intothe garbage can, and I said, I
(30:02):
will never watch it.
And thankfully, I've neverlooked at one since.
So that was the one thing Godis real.
He changes you from the insideout.
So that was a defining momentfor you then.
It was very defining.
Very defining.
I never heard his voice oranything like that.
There was nothing, come on tome, or hear a voice or
something.
And it was just a slow process.
Brian Stiller (30:25):
So so was Eleanor comfortable with you having
Playboy magazines around?
Paul Henderson (30:30):
Well, yeah.
And I asked her why.
I mean, she's about it didn'tmatter what I said.
You did what you wanted to doanyway, which was the truth.
Brian Stiller (30:37):
So it so is when she said wonderful and walked
away.
Well, that was about becoming aChristian.
Yes, and so then what happensto her?
Paul Henderson (30:45):
Well, Mel says to me, because she she was very
cold toward him, she did notwant any.
You go to church, you be a niceperson, just be a good person,
that's all you, but you don'tget radical, you don't talk
about the stuff.
And we didn't we didn't readthe Bible or before or have
prayed together or anything.
The only time we prayed is forher at mealtime.
(31:07):
And uh, and so anyway, uh thatuh, but Mel said, just don't
start preaching at her oranything like that.
And but unfortunately, I didn'tlisten to it.
I'd leave an open bell, I'dtake an open Bible and leave her
on her pillow.
Don't ever do that.
She's smacking, who do youthink you are?
(31:29):
But then she said, after aboutthree months, she came and says,
Paul, something's happening toyou.
She said, We went to bed, youalways tossed and turned.
I always went to sleep beforeyou did.
And you sit down to read, andyou can read for 10, 15 minutes,
you get up and you dosomething.
Now you sit there and you canread for 40, you can read for an
hour, and something hashappened.
(31:51):
And so we got her a Bible, uh,told Mel, and um a couple of
months later she gave her lifeto the Lord.
And then we sent our three, ouroldest girls up to T Ranch, and
they gave their life to theLord.
And and then the younger one,uh, in the by the end of uh 75,
the whole Paul Henderson familyhad had uh given their lives to
(32:13):
the Lord.
And I'm so thankful today.
In fact, I 40 years ago,Eleanor and I sat down.
What is the one prayer that wewould like to have answered?
And we talked about that for along time.
And so we've been praying thisprayer for 40 years.
The prayer we would most liketo be answered would be from our
(32:34):
you know, our descendants.
There would be an unbroken lineof people that would love Jesus
and follow Jesus until hereturns.
We've been praying that for 40years.
Brian Stiller (32:47):
What a great prayer.
Paul Henderson (32:49):
And uh when my daughters, sons-in-laws came
along, I told him, you start youcould in this be a part of the
Henderson family.
Brian Stiller (33:00):
This is what you need, and we're so fortunate
that at this point we're so youcome home from Russia, you can
you continue to play hockey,you're led to led to faith,
Eleanor comes to faith, thechildren do, you're still
playing hockey.
What then is going on in yourlife as it relates to your
(33:21):
long-term calling?
Paul Henderson (33:23):
Well, what I really thought I thought about
that, I wanted to do somethingafterwards for sure.
And uh, but I had a sense that,well, what happened when I was
in Birmingham, Alabama, I got amentor down there.
We knew Christian, we went downto Birmingham in 76.
Brian Stiller (33:40):
And Birmingham was the place that you played
hockey under the WHA.
Paul Henderson (33:43):
WHA the Birmingham Bulls.
And we'd become Christians bythat time.
And anyway, we went down thereand we put our girls in a
Christian school down there, andwe were going to this church.
Uh uh, we found this goodchurch, and there was a
businessman came up to me.
I met him a few times, and hesaid, I've got a small group
(34:06):
that I'm just starting, Paul,and uh a discipleship group.
And uh I hear that you're a newChristian, and if you would
like to join, I've got some newones.
And and I said, Oh man, I'dlove to do that.
And this guy became a, he was avery, very intelligent guy,
done very well in business andeverything like that.
And I was in a group with himfor three years.
We met from um 6:30 till eighto'clock on Monday mornings, and
(34:32):
he modeled for me what it was tolove the Lord passionately and
uh live your life in the way.
And then one morning came inand he said to told all of us,
he said, guys, uh pretend you'reat your funeral.
And he said, What do you wantyour wife to be?
If you died, what do you wouldyou like your wife to truthfully
(34:54):
say about you?
Think about your children.
What do you want your childrento say at your funeral?
And what about your friends?
And I thought about that for along time, you know, and then he
said, Paul, one day he said,you should write a purpose
statement for yourself.
Sit down and think about thecharacter qualities of the two
(35:14):
one.
And so I talked to him aboutit, and I had about three pages
of notes, you know, the husbandof wannabe, all that kind of
stuff.
And and then he said to me, hesaid, uh a purpose statement has
to be in one sentence.
I said, one sentence?
What do you tell me?
And I'm a bit competitive.
(35:35):
So I started working with him,and I said, I'm gonna I'm gonna
get it down to three words.
Very competitive guy.
And back back, I think it wasin 1977 and 78, I want to be my
purpose statement to be a godlyworld change agent.
Godly, what's that mean?
I want to live every day in amanner pleasing and honoring to
(35:59):
God.
I said, I wonder if God let mescore that goal, I'm gonna use
it as wide and as far as I can.
And I have spoken in everyprovince.
I've been to what is there,about 28 countries now sharing
my faith.
Been to back to went toSiberia, been back to, and so
(36:23):
that's what the world means.
I I decided that I was gonnatell the world and as widened as
far as I could.
And then change agent.
That's what Mel led me to theLord, and this John Bradford
helped me go.
And I want to be a changeagent.
And that's what I do.
And I came back to Canada in84.
(36:46):
We came back here and Istarted.
Well, what happened?
I was in this church, and mypastor and John came to me and
he said, We got some new peoplethat have just given their life
to the Lord, Paul, and we need aleader.
And Paul, we want you to lead.
I can't do that.
I've only been a Christian forthree years.
And sometimes you need peoplethat have more confidence in you
(37:07):
than you have in yourself.
And so uh John came to me andhe says, Paul, he said, really,
he said, the last six or sevenmonths, he says, you've been
really your passion, yourdiscipline, and your enthusiasm.
He said, I've just been sittingback walking eat watching you,
and you can do this.
But he said, Paul, don't try tolead like I do.
(37:28):
Our personalities are totally.
So don't try to be anybody elsebut yourself.
And so anyway, they prayed forme and I took it on and I loved
it.
And the guys were like comingon to it.
And then when I retired, I I toLord, I'd I want you to go back
to Canada and I want you to dothis to the Paul Henderson's
(37:48):
world.
You you you you had thatimpression?
I had the how did it come toyou?
Well, I just I guess the HolySpirit talked to me.
I I knew that I was called.
I really felt that God iscalled to what?
Called the ministry.
Okay.
Because I was up in the air ofdoing things, and I remember I
woke up one night and and wedidn't know whether to stay in
(38:09):
the States or come back.
And I was, and I said, uh, Iwoke up one night, I think it
was about a quarter after one inthe morning, and I and I had a
Bible beside my back, and Iopened the Bible, and and um
actually it was back in Canadathat I was staying with my
sister, brother-in-law, andEleanor was still in Birmingham,
(38:29):
and I said, Lord, I need that,I need an answer here.
I opened my Bible and then Iturned on the light, and uh just
when I looked down, and it wasin uh Isaiah, and I heard the
voice of the Lord saying, Whowill go for me?
And I said, Here am I.
(38:49):
And honest to God, I thoughtGod, I thought Jesus was in the
room.
And I phoned Eleanor the nextday and told her, and she hung
up.
Another wonderful way.
But I just had that I I I justI knew that God and I didn't
want to do it.
And like I wanted to besuccessful, I wanted to have a
(39:12):
career, and well, then I wasoffered a job being on
television, uh you know,commentary and that, and and
anyway, they went to Ballard andthey need Nixon.
He said, That sucker is notcoming into this building, and
and he wouldn't allow it, sothat shut that door.
And then I thought, oh, well,I'm going to the financial
(39:34):
world.
But anyway, it uh
Brian Stiller (39:36):
so you came back to Canada?
Paul Henderson (39:37):
Came back to Canada.
Brian Stiller (39:38):
And how did I start?
Paul Henderson (39:40):
I started, well, what happened?
I was only uh I was not verylong I was here.
My pastor in Florida or inBirmingham phoned me and he
says, Paul, there's a doctorthat's just moved up here.
He's a surgeon, and and uhwe've just led him to the Lord.
And I told him about you.
And what you did.
(40:01):
And so I told him that I'mgoing to get you to call him.
And he gave me his name.
And so I phoned him.
And he said, Yeah, Frank toldme you're going to call him.
And he said, What are youdoing?
And this was a Friday.
And he said, What are you doingtomorrow night?
I said, I haven't gottenanything really planned.
And he said, Well, I metanother doctor at our uh uh at
(40:25):
our work, and I've invited himand his wife to come.
So why don't you come uh to thedinner?
I said, Well, fine.
So I go over, and it turns outthis other guy was a Christian.
The other doctor was aChristian too.
And so anyway, we sat down andI told him what I wanted to do,
is there what I was doing.
And the guy says, I've neverbeen in a group, Paul.
(40:47):
I would love to do that.
And of course, he wasinterested.
I said, Well, well, and I so Isaid to him, do you have any
friends of yours that are justout to one spiritually?
And the doctor that lived here,I don't want to mention his
name, but anyway, he said, I gota next-door neighbor that is a
great guy, and I've been tryingto get him to come to church,
(41:09):
and he won't do it.
But she is a crazy hockey fan,and I know that he would love to
meet you.
So anyway, he invited him.
The three of us had went to thehospital downtown, was a
Western hospital.
And uh, and then we met forabout three weeks, and I said,
guys, why don't we have abreakfast?
(41:30):
And help it invite some of thepeople that, you know, are out
to lunch there, and I'll talk alittle about the face thing, and
then you can talk about what,you know.
And uh, well, the neighbor cameback and he he got involved for
the three weeks.
He knew he wanted to do it too.
He said he told Robbie, I'monly gonna come once.
But so anyway, we had about 14people came and we did that, and
(41:55):
then I ended up and we invitedthem, and then I had 12 in that
group.
And that's what I started with,one group.
And then a few months later, aguy in Hamilton, a lawyer,
wanted me to come over and speakover there.
And so we got together and Itold him what I was doing.
And I said, if you get someguys together, I'll drive over
here and we'll start one here.
(42:15):
And he said, I've been aChristian all my life.
I love the idea.
And so I ended up with 11 guysover in Hamilton, and that was
the two groups that I grew.
And uh, and to start with, I Isat down and I want to, this one
I want to go.
I want to start small, go deep,think big, finish well.
(42:36):
So uh start small.
I knew that I didn't want toexpand.
I wanted find out of how to dothe groups and everything.
And so I said, I'm gonna givemyself two, three years just on
building two or three groups andand and uh and start small,
then go deep, take them deepspiritually, get them to getting
up and having their quiet timein the morning and making the
(42:58):
Lord a part of their life as ahusband, a father, and all that
kind of stuff.
And then I think it and Iwanted to get a movement.
And so my goal was to get 25groups going.
I think, man, if I can get withgood leadership, I'll have a
movement going.
And then the last thing isalways finish well, don't screw
up.
You know, and every morning youget up and and so uh anyway,
(43:20):
when I got cancer in 09, uh, wehad about uh well, we got well
the lawyer that in Hamilton, I II was running it myself, but
I'm an administrative nightmare.
And I went over and I had lunchwith him every two weeks for a
year, trying to get him to giveup his his law career and come
(43:43):
on and work with me as myadministrator.
And so it took me several yearsto get him to come on, but he
came on, um, Freddie Christmaswas his name, and and then we
took off.
Brian Stiller (43:54):
And so how many groups have you had over these
years?
Paul Henderson (43:57):
Oh gosh.
Well, when I got cancer, we haduh about uh uh we had that was
an 09.
Uh and so I think we had about80 groups going then at that
point.
And when I got cancer, I knewthat I had, and they told me I
might I was diagnosed in uh 09,and uh they told me I might have
(44:21):
five years.
So I had leukemia and leukemia,well, I still have them today,
lymphoma and leukemia.
And so there was a guy that wasin one of our groups in that up
here, and he was uh uhsuperintendent, and he had
retired.
And so I talked him into comingover and and taking over the
ministry for me.
And he'd been in a group for 10years by this time, and so I
(44:44):
got him to do it, and and thatreally changed things.
I I I was I ran a pretty goodmom and pop shop, but I'm a
disciple maker.
I'm not a strategy just indeveloping the prayer.
And he came on, and that's whenit really took off.
And uh today we're in, I thinkit's uh 70 countries, leader
(45:05):
impact.
We've got uh we've now achange, we've got men's groups,
we've got women's groups now,and we've got mixed groups
because a lot of women are CEOsof that kind of stuff now, and
and so it's uh it's just takenoff when so
Brian Stiller (45:21):
so now you and I are close to the same age, you
look back on on that, and umwhat what's the most important
thing you've learned infollowing Jesus?
Paul Henderson (45:34):
What's the most important thing?
Well, I think that's probablywhat it is, it's following
Jesus.
He says, uh Mark 8.12, he says,I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will notwalk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.
Walking in darkness, nothinggood happens there.
(45:56):
And I know the difference.
And so I that's what I I uhalthough there's a uh one of the
guys in my group, you know,very devout Christian, is the
chief operating officer of a bigcorporation.
He says, My purpose in life isto help you find your purpose in
(46:17):
life.
Isn't that terrific?
And I think that's but I thinkGod, you know, like I'm I'm I'm
here to tell people about Jesusand and uh like I you never
argued by anybody.
I know what I believe, and Iknow why I believe.
Brian Stiller (46:33):
Okay.
Paul Henderson (46:34):
And that's what I try to share.
Brian Stiller (46:36):
So you this walking in the light.
Uh Richard Mouw talks about howin the city of God in
Revelation, the Lamb is thelight.
And of course, that metaphorcomes at a time when there was
(46:56):
no light, when dark when whenthe sun set in the Middle East
at the time of Jesus, everythingwas dark apart from the star
shining and the odd fire bonfireburning.
So darkness was absolute, solight was transformative.
So how have you walked in thelight?
What has helped you to stay outof darkness in light?
Paul Henderson (47:19):
Well, I get up every morning.
And Mel Stevens, he was the guythat taught me that.
And and even to this day, soonas I and I'm a morning person,
thank goodness I am.
And the first thing I do is saythe Lord's Prayer.
I don't let any thoughts intomy mind.
And as I pray it, you know, thethe thing is, uh, may your work
be a um be the thy kingdomcome, your will be done on
(47:45):
earth, and then I add in earthand in my life as it is a
heaven.
I pray that every morning andat night when I go to bed also.
And so I start the day rightwith the Lord.
And then I I have a time, Ibecause I Eleanor just she
struggles with health and shedoesn't get up early.
So I usually have an hour and ahalf to two hours by myself
(48:08):
every morning that I'm don't goout to, you know, a men's group
or something like that.
And so I just refuse to startthe day without the Lord.
And I unashamably asked him,you know, for help.
And I tell you, Brian, I prayevery day, Lord, save me from
myself and the devil.
Because no one ever arrives,and you can always go deeper.
(48:33):
No one I I don't in our church,I love this in our church.
This are it says the loveJesus, live like Jesus, continue
to learn from Jesus, and leadothers to Jesus.
And that's my marching ordersevery day.
Brian Stiller (48:51):
Paul, someone's listening to your story, and
they're they may have noinclination to towards faith or
trusting in Christ.
Or maybe they have got badmemories of church or someone
who disappointed them.
Or maybe they've just it's allcomplex and they're they're
(49:12):
stewing around.
Where might they begin?
Paul Henderson (49:17):
Well, I would say if you're not if you don't
exactly, if you're not content,find somebody that you know, a
good friend.
Usually have a Christiansomewhere, ask him about it.
Or the other thing that I woulddo, find a good church, or
hopefully, that will uh uh couldlearn from a pastor.
(49:39):
Like our if we're we're leadingpeople to the Lord all the
time, baptizing people.
And so, but but the whole thingas I tell people just who just
look into who is this Jesus?
And that's what Mel got me todo.
And and and if you look at theall the evidence for it, and
there's some great books uh likeC.S.
(49:59):
Lewis, Mere Christianity, someof these good books that that uh
uh that you can go, but but youcan't make it on your own.
You need help.
Listen to podcasts, listen tothis one, listen to other
people.
And so ask questions.
In our groups, we did guys thatthere's no dumb questions.
You can ask anything you want,and there are answers, but
(50:23):
nobody is perfect, and everybodyis different, Brian.
That's the thing about it.
And what works for one personmay not work for another.
So when I'm talking to somebodythat I've just met or
something, I always try to findout where they're hurting,
because they if it is marriage,your kids, or whatever it is,
and then whatever it whateverthe case would be, I said, Well,
(50:45):
how are you handling?
And then I might just bring thefaith into it.
But a lot of people I just askpeople out too, if I'm having
conversations with, I said, Doyou have a spiritual side to
your life?
And they usually say, Well,what do you mean by that?
And I said, Well, do you havefaith in anything like that?
And and they'll say, Well, I'mI'm a religious person.
(51:05):
And I say, Well, I'm notreligious at all.
I don't have, you know,religion is a religious person
is somebody that's trying toplease God by living.
And I know I'm never going tobe good enough to do that, and
so it's all by grace.
So I'm I'm wandering here, soI'm looking to bring it to the
Brian Stiller (51:28):
Paul.
This is a good wandering.
It's a good wandering becauseyou're musing.
And we muse, we think, we feel,we wonder.
And as I listen to your storytoday, the the way God has
brought into your life the LordJesus, and the Spirit has taken
(51:50):
your natural gifts and andleadership and encouraging
others, and uh use that Russiansummit goal, that lousy goal you
said, as a way to springboardyou into this global ministry.
It's been wonderful listeningto you, and uh I've I've watched
you over these years uh and tomy friends who are who are
(52:14):
listening to this podcast, uh,this guy is is real.
And uh I just thank you so muchfor joining us in Evangelical
360 today.
Thank you.
Paul Henderson (52:26):
My pleasure.
Brian Stiller (52:27):
Thank you.
Thanks, Paul, for joining metoday and telling us a story
which I'm sure you have told somany times.
But for me, it's one I nevertire of hearing.
And to you, my friend, thankyou for being a part of the
podcast.
Uh, be sure to share thisepisode and join the
conversation on YouTube.
(52:47):
And if you haven't alreadysubscribed, hit the subscribe
button.
If you'd like to learn moreabout today's guest, check the
show notes for links and info.
And if you haven't alreadyreceived my free ebook and
newsletter, just go toBrianstiller.com.
Thanks again.
Until next time.
Don't miss the next interview.
(53:12):
Be sure to subscribe toEvangelical 360 on YouTube.
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