Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)

Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)

I stand by the term "endorse". It's a straight-forward, honest interpretation of what was written. A genuinely enlightened, intelligent and morally good person in a position of influence would have explained how people should be treated equally and not possessed as property. Instead, Jesus clearly supports slavery.

which is very similar to their instructions to those of us who find themselves subject to a modern government. Those instructions were to accept your situation (including the status of women in those days) and focus on eternal issues
This is a casual attempt to dismiss and belittle an enormous problem. Being subject to a modern government doesn't involve being raped, beaten, imprisoned etc. This was the reality for many slaves. This isn't a trivial issue that can be dismissed. A few simple words from Jesus could have dramatically improved the situation and prevented years of brutal suffering.

*It is the one thing that puts man into the right relationship of dependence on God. Without that we tend to elevate ourselves to a place where we eventually rebel against God. He's had quite enough of that with Satan and his angels.

So this world is a test range to see who will make that simple attitude adjustment. The test is so simple it doesn't need any updating to 2016.*

Do you realise how bizarre this belief is? It's like something from Lord of the Rings. Angels, Demons, Satan, The Lord Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, Yahweh...
Yahweh needed to sacrifice his son to himself so he could forgive humans who have been told he exists and unquestioningly believed it, in order to give them eternal life - while those that are sceptical of his existence, regardless of whether they are morally good or not, are doomed to eternal punishment. Why not just forgive people without having your son tortured? Why not just forgive everyone, instead of favouring believers over unconvinced sceptics? Also, what's the significance of Jesus being tortured? Many people have been tortured, more brutally so and for much longer periods of time. Yet no one claims that their torture has a bearing on the misdemeanours of the entire of humanity.