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Francis Dixon
Francis W. Dixon (1910–1985). Born in north London, England, in 1910, Francis W. Dixon grew up in a non-religious family but converted to Christianity in 1929 at age 19 through the preaching of Irish evangelist W.P. Nicholson. Initially working in business in London, he spent evenings and weekends preaching, feeling a call to full-time ministry. From 1940 to 1945, he pastored Hamilton Road Mission in Whitstable, Kent, and in 1945–1946 served as assistant minister to Alan Redpath at Duke Street Baptist Church, Richmond, London. In late 1946, he became pastor of Lansdowne Baptist Church in Bournemouth, where his evangelistic and expository preaching led to significant congregational growth over nearly three decades. Dixon’s warm, compelling gospel presentations and clear Bible teaching fed and challenged ordinary believers, with printed notes from his weekly Bible studies reaching a global mailing list of 40,000. A pioneer, he produced “Words of Life” sermon recordings, braille Bible studies, and a daily two-minute telephone ministry. A regular speaker at the Keswick Convention, he also undertook overseas preaching tours. Dixon authored booklets like Other Preachers’ Bones and Living in the Sunshine. Married, though family details are private, he retired in 1975 and died in 1985 in Bournemouth, saying, “The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ for all who will receive it.”
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Francis Dixon emphasizes the role of men and women, rather than angels, as God's chosen servants for spreading His kingdom and leading souls to salvation. While angels serve God in His presence and protect His children, the responsibility of sharing the message of redemption through Jesus Christ is entrusted to humanity. Saved sinners are uniquely qualified to proclaim God's grace from personal experience, unlike angels who have not experienced a fallen world. Dixon challenges believers to fulfill God's plan by sharing the gospel with loved ones, friends, neighbors, and all those around them.
God Uses Men as His Servants
The first thing we learn surely is that God uses men, and not angels, as His servants. Notice what the damsel said - "These men are the servants of the most high God..." I want quite legitimately to place the emphasis upon this word "men", for it is men, like Paul, Silas and Luke (and women too), whom the Lord uses for the extension of His kingdom and for the salvation of souls. D.L. Moody once said, "I believe that if an angel were to wing his way from earth to heaven and were to say that there was one poor soul needing a Saviour, and if God were to ask who among the angels were willing to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and lead that one to Jesus Christ, every angel in heaven would volunteer to go!" God does have a ministry for angels; they serve Him in His immediate presence and wait to do His bidding, and this frequently includes caring for and protecting God's children. But concerning the matter of salvation, of making known the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, God does not ask the angels to do this. He asks men and women like ourselves to do it. We have been saved that we may serve Him in this way. He has chosen us for this purpose. His plan is that through us the whole world shall be evangelised and that all men shall hear the way of salvation and know how to be saved. The angels could do this job most effectively, but in actual fact they are not qualified in the way that saved sinners are qualified, for "they have never known a fallen world like this" and cannot speak from personal experience of the amazing and wonderful grace of God in salvation. How challenging this is! The Lord's plan and purpose is that you and I, who have been redeemed by His precious blood, may be the ones to lead our loved ones, our friends, our neighbours and all those within our reach to know Him as their Lord and Saviour. How slow we are to do it! How preoccupied we can become with other good things, but less important things!
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Francis W. Dixon (1910–1985). Born in north London, England, in 1910, Francis W. Dixon grew up in a non-religious family but converted to Christianity in 1929 at age 19 through the preaching of Irish evangelist W.P. Nicholson. Initially working in business in London, he spent evenings and weekends preaching, feeling a call to full-time ministry. From 1940 to 1945, he pastored Hamilton Road Mission in Whitstable, Kent, and in 1945–1946 served as assistant minister to Alan Redpath at Duke Street Baptist Church, Richmond, London. In late 1946, he became pastor of Lansdowne Baptist Church in Bournemouth, where his evangelistic and expository preaching led to significant congregational growth over nearly three decades. Dixon’s warm, compelling gospel presentations and clear Bible teaching fed and challenged ordinary believers, with printed notes from his weekly Bible studies reaching a global mailing list of 40,000. A pioneer, he produced “Words of Life” sermon recordings, braille Bible studies, and a daily two-minute telephone ministry. A regular speaker at the Keswick Convention, he also undertook overseas preaching tours. Dixon authored booklets like Other Preachers’ Bones and Living in the Sunshine. Married, though family details are private, he retired in 1975 and died in 1985 in Bournemouth, saying, “The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ for all who will receive it.”