What are you ENDORSING?

Endorsement -to approve openly ; especially : to express support or approval of publicly and definitely b: to recommend (as a product or service) usually for financial compensation.

At the end of all the campaigning which meant listening to all of these endless endorsements of candidates from local, state, and national levels I decided to make a list of what I endorse. I also was challenged to examine my life and make sure my life endorses these things and not just my mouth.

The list could probably go on forever . . . . so I just thought of a few things. I pray that you are challenged and I hope that you laugh a little.

I ENDORSE VACATIONS . . . for as long as I can remember we have taken family vacations. Even as a child my parents did not have much but I can remember several family vacations. As I became a husband and father we tried to continue this tradition and even now with an empty nest Connie and I still take a vacation. My suggestion is a remote island. We like St. Martin.

I ENDORSE READING . . . Read for relaxation, knowledge, and understanding. Those are all the reasons I am an avid reader. Jenny, my grandmother on my Dad's side pushed me to become an avid reader. I am not sure she ever knew what a profound affect she had on my life. Today I read because I want to learn and be mentored by others who know more than me. If you do not like to read I would imagine you are not growing in your life or your walk. Of course in this day and time pod casts and compact discs can take the place of reading.

I ENDORSE WATCHES . . . I am a confessed watch freak. I love cool watches. I am not sure that you would call me a collector but I do enjoy wearing different watches with different styles of clothing. I know that probably makes me weird or a Metro - sexual or something??

I ENDORSE COIN OPERATED KIDDY RIDES - Now that I am a Grandfather or as I want to be called POP I love the fact that I can drop a few quarters into a very simple little plastic horse that will electrically move back and forth and make my grandson smile so big it makes you want to jump up and down for joy. Not to mention all the people that stop by and coo and smile and tell you how cute he is. This makes my chest swell and eyes flood all at the same time.

I ENDORSE DUBLIN DR. PEPPER - Recently I had a young college girl (Jody) who attends the church I Pastor ask me if she could bring me back a six pack of Dublin Dr. Pepper. My enthusiastic reply was of course. Now for the uninitiated you may think this is crazy! In the 1070's and 1980's when the price of sugar began to rise most pop bottlers switched to high fructose corn syrup. Well Dublin Dr. Pepper is still made the old fashioned way with Imperial Pure Can sugar and man is it good. Plus it still comes in a glass bottle (no left over aluminum taste). You can only get this drink in a 44 mile radius of Dublin, TX. If you are ever there get some. MMMMMMMMMMM GOOD!!!

I ENDORSE GOLF . . . Yes, I love to chase a little white ball around and try to knock it in a small hole in the least amount of strokes. For some this game is about as much fun as watching paint dry. There are so many life lessons found in golf that there would not be time or space enough to write about them so lets just say I love it because . . . it is me against the course. I can enjoy it by myself or with a group. I measure myself against a course standard not a another individuals standard. It is almost like reading the Bible. The standard never changes. Now I know there are different golf courses around the world but you are still playing against par. I hope this makes sense. It does to me.

I ENDORSE WORSHIP . . . To me worship is so much more than singing a few songs at church. Worship is really used to describe a lifestyle. Worship just so happens to include music but it really is all about our relationship to a loving Creator who lost relationship with His creation because of one simple act of rebellion. Worship came into being because of this love affair of a Creator longing to see restoration with His creation. If we could just see our lives in the context of worship then things would be so different and I believe so much better. Worship is giving and not taking. We all worship when we give so lets practice some worship by giving our time, energy, talent, emotion, and of course this could include money. Worship is an investment we make to which the returns cannot always be measured by this worlds standards.

I ENDORSE MARRIAGE . . . WOW!! This one could be really long but it won't be. Let me just say that I am not made to be single. I have known this for a very long time, so I am very grateful to be married to the most awesome woman on the planet now for over 30yrs. She is my confidant, best friend, lover, vacation planner & partner, incredible Pastor's wife, great teacher/preacher, mother, and so much more. As a bi-product of this awesome marriage we have produced three of the most incredible children on the planet. I am so proud of Jeff, Denae, and Lance. God has given you incredible spouses to go along with each of you and I am so privileged to be called your Father. Let me just add my parents into this endorsement. They have been married for more than 50yrs and what an example they have been to me and their grand children. I salute you Mom & Dad!!!!

I ENDORSE CHURCH . . . Many of you have heard me say before that I became a Christian long before I became a Pastor. All this means is that if I had never preached a single sermon in my life that I would still as a Christian endorse the local church. Is the church perfect? The answer to this question is obvious but the church is still the living force through which God is going to touch this earth and make it better. We connect with others of like faith to reach a common goal of making a difference. We have a place of support when we need it. If being a Christian and a regularly attender at a local church is wrong then I do not ever want to be right. Let's go ahead and take a risk worth taking and commit to a local church through which we can love a lost and hurting world. We can do more together than we can separately.

I ENDORSE INTEGRITY . . . The root of the word integrity is integer or whole numbers therefore the root meaning of integrity has everything to do with wholeness. It is when we divide ourselves in our loyalties that we divide who we are. For example we said, "until death do us part" but what we meant was until something better came along. Integrity just means that we are who we say we are and we will do what we say we will do. This is why when my kids were growing up I very rarely promised anything. My kids would ask me to promise them that we would go here or do this and I very rarely ever did because what if something genuinely came up and I had to change it? I did not want to be a liar. I cannot remember who to give credit to for this saying but I think of it often. "I AM NOT PERFECT BUT I AM NOT A POSER." All this means is that I am not a perfect husband, father, Christian, or Pastor but I am not posing I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD AND I BELIEVE THAT HE IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE AND NO ONE CAN COME TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH HIM.

The End.
Ed