Draft:Don Gossett

• Comment: Filled with symptoms of LLM usage such as WP:OVERATTRIBUTION. Please remove all text from the draft and start over from a blank slate without LLMs. Helpful Raccoon (talk) 03:27, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Don Gossett
Don Gossett
Born	(1929-07-20)July 20, 1929 Anadarko, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	December 10, 2014(2014-12-10) (aged 85) Blaine, Washington, U.S.
Occupations	Author, evangelist, missionary, pastor, radio broadcaster
Known for	Bold Bible Living radio ministry; best-selling books on praise, healing, and positive confession
Notable work	What You Say Is What You Get, There’s Dynamite in Praise
Website	www.dongossett.com

Don Gossett (July 20, 1929 – December 10, 2014) was an American Christian author, evangelist, missionary, pastor, and radio broadcaster. He was associated with charismatic Christian teaching on praise, healing, spoken confession, and positive confession theology. Gossett was best known for his long-running radio program Bold Bible Living and bestselling books such as What You Say Is What You Get, There’s Dynamite in Praise, and Words That Move Mountains (co-authored with E. W. Kenyon).^[1][2]

Early life

Gossett was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma.^[3]

Ministry

Raised in a non-religious home, he was born again at age 12 and felt called to preach at age 17 after being healed of a speech impediment.^[4] He began ministry work in the 1940s and later apprenticed with evangelist T. L. Osborn, who encouraged him to begin his own evangelistic ministry.^[1] A 1958 report in End Times’ Messenger, the official publication of the Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada, described Gossett as an evangelist from Salem, Oregon, and reported that he conducted a “Salvation and Healing Revival” at the Full Gospel Church in Calgary, Alberta, from June 8 to July 6, 1958.^[5]

A reference entry on Bold Bible Living states that Gossett had served as editor of Faith Digest, the magazine of the T. L. Osborn Evangelistic Association, and that while editor he also toured North America as an evangelist and worked as a radio minister.^[2]

The same reference entry states that Gossett moved to British Columbia in 1961 and organized the Bold Living Society, which facilitated his worldwide ministry.^[2] A local obituary reported that he entered Christian ministry at age 19 and remained active until his death, with his daily programs continuing on Radio KARI and other stations.^[6] Charisma reported that Gossett started the Bold Bible Living radio program in 1961 and that the broadcast reached listeners internationally.^[1] The Encyclopedia.com/Gale entry likewise describes the ministry as international and states that the radio program was aired in more than 100 countries.^[2]

Writing and publishing

Gossett wrote and published numerous Christian books and booklets, including works on praise, healing, faith, and spoken confession.^[2] Charisma described him as a best-selling Whitaker House author and identified several of his better-known books, including What You Say Is What You Get, There’s Dynamite in Praise, The Power of Your Words, and Words That Move Mountains, the latter co-attributed with E. W. Kenyon.^[1] Charisma reported that Gossett’s works were translated into 18 languages and that more than 25 million copies had been distributed worldwide.^[1] A 2014 obituary in The Northern Light reported that he published nearly 200 books and booklets.^[6] The Encyclopedia.com/Gale entry lists Gossett’s works as including There’s Dynamite in Praise, What You Say Is What You Get, I’m Sold on Being Bold, and The Power of the Positive Confession of God’s Word, attributed to E. W. Kenyon and Gossett.^[2]

Teaching themes and reception

The Encyclopedia.com/Gale entry describes Gossett as having become a student of E. W. Kenyon’s writings in the 1950s and states that Gossett emerged in the 1970s as a major exponent of the positive confession perspective within the larger Pentecostal community.^[2] His teaching emphasized the authority of the Bible, spoken confession, healing, provision, and the importance of affirming biblical promises.^[2]

Gossett’s writings have also been discussed in academic treatments of Word of Faith and positive confession theology. In a King’s College London PhD thesis on American Word of Faith influence in English evangelical revivalism, Glyn James Ackerley discussed Gossett under the subheading “Don Gossett,” describing What You Say Is What You Get as an example of the idea of creative speech and noting Gossett’s books attributed jointly with E. W. Kenyon.^[7] In his later published study on American Word of Faith influence in English evangelical revivalism, Glyn J. Ackerley discussed Gossett under the subheading “Don Gossett,” described him as a “well known Faith teacher,” identified What You Say Is What You Get with the idea of creative speech, and noted Gossett’s books attributed jointly with E. W. Kenyon.^[8] In a University of Birmingham MPhil thesis on healing teaching in the Word of Faith movement, Robin Hamlyn cited Gossett’s What You Say Is What You Get in discussing spoken-word theology and Word of Faith teaching.^[9] D. R. McConnell’s critical study of the Word of Faith movement, A Different Gospel, listed Gossett among “some of the main preachers and authors of the Faith movement.”^[10]

Charles H. Lippy’s reference work Twentieth-Century Shapers of American Popular Religion mentioned Gossett in a discussion of late-twentieth-century charismatic faith teaching, alongside figures such as Marilyn Hickey, Joel Osteen, Charles Capps, Lester Sumrall, and Norvel Hayes.^[11]

Gossett’s books attributed with Kenyon have also appeared in academic discussions of divine healing and the faith movement. Jennifer Ann Miskov’s University of Birmingham PhD thesis on Carrie Judd Montgomery cited Kenyon and Gossett’s Words That Move Mountains in a discussion of confession and healing in the faith movement.^[12]

Later life and death

Gossett died in Blaine, Washington, on December 10, 2014, at the age of 85.^[3][6][1] FrontGate Media also reported that Gossett died at age 85 with his wife Debra present.^[13] The Northern Light reported that he was survived by his second wife Debra Gossett, several children, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A private family funeral was held on December 15, 2014, with a public memorial planned for January 2015.^[6]

Charisma and FrontGate Media both noted that Gossett had served in active ministry for 66 years as a pastor, worldwide evangelist, missionary, and longtime Christian broadcaster.^[1][13]

Legacy

Gossett's books have been cited in academic studies on the Word of Faith movement, positive confession theology, divine healing, and charismatic Christianity. His work What You Say Is What You Get is discussed in Glyn James Ackerley’s King’s College London PhD thesis and in Robin Hamlyn’s University of Birmingham MPhil thesis in relation to creative speech and spoken-word theology.^[7][9] His co-attributed book with E. W. Kenyon, Words That Move Mountains, is cited in Jennifer Ann Miskov’s University of Birmingham PhD thesis in connection with confession and healing practices in the faith movement.^[12]

Selected works

• What You Say Is What You Get
• There’s Dynamite in Praise
• The Power of Your Words
• Words That Move Mountains
• I’m Sold on Being Bold
• Praise Avenue
• Living Without Fear

References

External links

• Official website