One thing about it, "The Passion" sure has revived an interest in all things Jesus. And when you are looking at all things Jesus, division is a word that immediately comes to mind. But Jesus Christ did not teach an exclusionary or divisive message.

Jesus is reported to have summed it up like this: "The first commandment requires that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. And the second commandment clearly requires that you love your neighbor as yourself."

That's it. That's what Jesus was, and is, all about.

No more. No less. In fact, He Himself said you could hang all the law and all the prophets on those two commandments. No pomp, circumstance and fluff. Nothing to set apart his followers except love, the active "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" kind of results-oriented love.

Did you know that "do unto others" theme runs through all the great religions?

I have learned much about Jesus from church attendance over the years. But, if the truth be told, I have learned much that I have chosen to unlearn. I have come to realize that the Jesus story is so much simpler than many folks, especially those caught up in organized religion, make it out to be.

I see it like this:�There was a Creator God. He made man. He made rules. He loved His creation. The creation broke the rules. The penalty was death. Jesus, who was with God at Creation said, "Don't kill them. I know you love them. Let me go down and die for them. Let me take their punishment. Let me redeem them." And when the timing was right that is exactly what he did.

Think about it like this. A nine-year-kid labors for weeks building a little boat. He takes it to a stream to play and the boat which is so eager to find out how it can perform in the setting for which it was created quickly gets caught up in the water currents and very independently floats away from its creator.

Many weeks later, the little kid is playing at a friend's house and he sees the boat amongst a pile of toys and clutter in the friend's room. It's all scratched up, broken in a couple of places, but recognizable. He wants his boat back. The friend says, "No, it's mine, I found it."

The creator of the boat goes home and gets all his money out of his piggy bank, goes