Customer Reviews

Consumed by Success: Reaching the Top and Finding God Wasn't There...

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This is a brilliant testimony from a woman who has in bondage to this kind of success. The fact that Athena Dean speaks from her own experience doesn't mean it's true for everybody else...however, there is a great deal of truth in here for everyone to learn from.

As someone who was in the grand-daddy of them all in MLM, as far as the motivational organizations which propel it, much of what Athena says is right on the money (pardon the pun).

The fact that no one wants to hear the "negative," and you have to "associate" with the right kind of people, read the "right kind" of books, and listen to the right tapes and go to all the seminars. I mean, one can spend thousands of dollars on this kind of thing and get nothing out of it.

Then there is the "selling of the dream" which is right on target as well. I used to sell the dream, and everything which she talks about still occurs. But, there is one thing which none of the "upline" ever did, and that was to "counsel" their downline to seek God's guidance before every decision, and to go to prayer when any major decision needed to be made. No, they said "see it to believe it," which ran counter to what the Bible says about "In all things seek God, and He shall guide your paths." I even remember one man having a Bible in his motel room and right next to it a book by Napoleon Hill. Talk about contradictions.

A great book, and meant as a personal testimony, although I'd advise others to read it carefully and prayerfully. I wish I'd read this book back in the early 90's. It would have saved me thousands of dollars. God calls us to be faithful, not successful.

Highly recommended!

I fully understand Mrs. Dean's struggles and position. She truly became consumed with success. That as she points out is wrong and un-Christian. We are to be fully and totally given over to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However in her zeal to warn us from the dangers of materialism and greed - both sins- she has mistakenly isolated on "tool" of both. MLM is no more the problem than an 8 - 5 job. I was also in her position once but my "MLM" was the military. With any business, career or hobby for that matter, we can become overly consumed as was she. I think the book's message would be better targeted at greed, materialism and lust for power and fame - not a particluar type of business. For the record I am not in any MLM - But I find it truly distatsteful to mark any type of business opportunity as "ungodly" simply because we may or may not have had a bad experience in it.

Athena Dean has been to the top of the Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) ladder. She and her husband were making well over $20,000 a month. They thought they had success, but then God stepped in. He showed them how they had become consumed by the world's view of success and the pursuit of wealth. They had sold out everything--church, friends, family and their ministry to Vietnam Veterans in order to worship the almighty dollar. In this book, Athena not only shares her personal story (both highs and lows) but gives scripture references why as Christians we need to avoid falling into the Satan's trap of multi-level marketing. If you are a Christian and are involved in a MLM or are thinking about getting involved in one and want to hear an opinion from a Godly woman who has been there and back, then this book is a must read. "For what does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul."