Struggle, Then Takeoff

A minister was always very quiet about his ministry. But earlier this year, he was bubbling over. His Church, he said, had struggled for years (I hadn't known). Now it had taken off! Would this last? I said that, in both of my major ministries, we had takeoff after a fairly long struggle -- but after that, we didn't look back. In my first major ministry, it was about four years until takeoff. In my second major ministry (pictured), it was about six years. OBSERVATION: I read one book on Church growth which claimed that the biggest secret to mega-Churches was that the minister had been there for many years.