Of course!

 Of course!

Blessed, he said, are the peacemakers;

we'll call them God's children.

And the ones who show mercy, kindness;

they will receive mercy.

Sell everything, give it to the poor.

And while you're there, bring them to the banquet.

Seven is never enough;

you must forgive seventy-seven times.

Blessed are the meek,

the earth belongs to them.

Again he spoke.

It's like a mustard seed

growing large to provide a home.

No, I won't condemn you. Go;

turn your life around.

Love.

Each other, your neighbours;

your enemies, too.

Put your sword away.

Swords are for those who are perishing.

You are to be servants.

He told them: I didn't come for the good guys;

I came for the others.

Rich people? They probably won't make it.

Sad, but it will be their choice.

You are forgiven.

Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

They turned up late. It's OK.

Pay them the full wage, anyway.

Yes, we all know he messed up big-time;

he still belongs. Don't stay outside;

join the party, give him a hug.

Of course it hurts; Heaps!

Don't hold it against them.

Jesus. The woke leftie.

Try not to be offended.

Ken Rookes 2026

Christ also suffered

Haiku responding to 1 Pt 3:13-22

Can anyone harm

you if you eagerly do

those things that are good?

But if you suffer

for doing what is right, you

are blessed. Do not fear.

Live out Christ's lordship,

being always ready to

account for your hope.

Speak with gentleness,

keep your conscience clear; then none

can abuse your name.

Better to suffer

for good deeds than for evil.

God will be with you.

Christ also suffered;

the righteous for unrighteous,

bringing us to God.

He died in the flesh,

came alive in the spirit,

proclaimed hope for all.

Only eight were saved

by the ark through the waters;

baptism saves all.

It's not the cleansing

that saves; Christ's resurrection

achieves God's favour.

© Ken Rookes 2026 

Cornerstone

Haiku responding to 1 Pt 2:2-10

You've been born anew.

Like infants, seek spiritual

milk that comes from God.

You know God is good.

You've tasted God's love, grow now

into salvation.

Jesus, the living

stone, rejected by mortals,

precious in God's sight.

You are living stones,

come, be built with him into

a spiritual house.

Scriptures say that God

lays a cornerstone for us;

we are to trust him.

Those who don't believe

stumble on the cornerstone,

disobey God's word.

You're chosen people,

a royal priesthood, holy,

called to be God's own.

Proclaim God's mighty

acts; God calls you from darkness

into wondrous light.

Once you were nothing,

now you are God's people; now

you know God's mercy.

© Ken Rookes 2026

For this you have been called

Haiku responding to 1 Pt 2:19-25

Being God aware,

you do well to endure pain,

unjust suffering.

If you endure when

you suffer for doing right,

God approves of you.

We're called to follow

Christ who also suffered; He

is your example.

Jesus did not sin,

he spoke truth; he was abused

but returned it not.

Christ trusted in God,

knowing that God is a judge

who is always just.

He carried our sins

in his body, opening

our way to healing.

Like sheep we had strayed,

now the shepherd welcomes us

back, and guards our souls.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Betraying

 

Christianity

betraying Jesus; cheering

on killings and war.

Ken Rookes 2026

More than sacrifice

 Haiku responding to 1 Pt 1:17-23

Parent God judges

all according to their deeds;

live accordingly.

Ransom metaphor.

Not all that helpful today;

to whom was it paid?

Sacrifices made

for sin. An ancient concept;

do we still need it?

More than sacrifice,

Jesus' bloody death speaks love,

costly and giving.

Before ev'rything,

God's plan for us was life, full

and true, through Jesus

Through him we trust God

who raised Jesus from the dead,

and find faith and hope.

Obeying the truth

our souls have been purified;

and we're joined in love.

© Ken Rookes 2026

A living hope

 

A living hope

Haiku responding to 1 Pt 1:3-9

Blessed be the God

who is Father of our Lord;

Jesus, who is Christ.

By God's mercy, we

are born to a living hope

through Jesus' rising.

Our inheritance

does not perish or fade; it

is kept in heaven.

God's power protects

us, through faith; we shall be saved,

when the last day comes.

Rejoice! Though suff'ring

and trials are yours at this time,

they prove your faith true.

Your faith is precious,

more than gold tested by fire;

it brings much honour.

Your faith will bring praise

honour and glory when Christ

Jesus is revealed.

You have not seen him,

still you love him; you believe

and rejoice in him.

This glorious joy

is the outcome of your faith;

your soul's salvation.

© Ken Rookes 2026

What is required

 

Haiku for Easter

 

Raised with Christ

 

Haiku responding to Col 3:1-4

You've been raised with Christ.

Wow! Think about what that means!

Takes your breath away!

Seek the spiritual,

the things of Jesus, seated

to the right of God.

So focus upon

those things that are eternal,

not the things of earth.

Reckon yourself dead

when it comes to earthly things;

your life is in Christ!

When Christ is revealed

we will be revealed with him,

sharing his glory!

© Ken Rookes 2026

But emptied himself

Haiku responding to Phil.3:5-22

Jesus did not grasp

at equality with God;

try to think like him!

He emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave;

became one of us.

One of us. Humble,

obedient unto death;

suffered on a cross.

Because of this, God

exalted him, naming him

above all others.

At the name, Jesus,

every knee bends, in heaven

and upon the earth.

Every tongue should speak

to confess Jesus is Lord,

bring glory to God.

.© Ken Rookes 2026

Set your mind on the Spirit

Haiku responding to Rom. 8:6-11

Looking to ourselves

leads to death; to find life, peace,

look to the Spirit.

Minds set on the flesh

are hostile to God; God's law

does not rule in them.

You are not fleshly

since God's Spirit dwells in you.

You belong to Christ.

Christ dwells in you; though

the body, through sin, is dead,

the Spirit is life!

God's Spirit, who raised

Jesus to life, gives us life;

makes God's home in us.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Once you were darkness

Haiku responding to Eph 5:8-14

Once you were darkness,

now, in the Lord, you are light.

Live as Light's children.

For the fruits of Light

are all around; in those things

good and right and true.

Live to discover

that which is full of love, and

pleasing to the Lord.

Shun works of darkness;

they are not fruitful; rather,

bring them to the light.

Expose them to light!

Illuminate shameful works

that they be transformed.

Wake up you sleepers!

When you rise up from the dead

Christ will shine on you.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Peace with God

Haiku responding to Rom. 5:1-11

.We have peace with God.

By grace we receive, through faith

we are justified.

What a gift this is!

By grace we boast in the hope

of sharing glory.

From our afflictions

come endurance, character,

and finally, hope.

Our hope is from God,

whose love does fill our hearts, through

the Holy Spirit.

While we were helpless

Christ died for the ungodly.

That is unheard of!

God's love has been proved:

While we were still lost in sin

the Christ died for us.

Since we have now been

justified by his blood, we

are saved from God's wrath.

We were made God's friends

by his Son's death, so much more

we're saved by his life.

We boast of God's love

in Jesus Christ; through our Lord

we are reconciled.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Through faith

Haiku responding to Romans 4:1-5, 13 - 17

Good works don't make us

righteous, so Abraham was

justified by faith.

When you work, you're paid;

wages are not a gift, they're due

to he who earned them.

Works won't get us there,

we have to put trust in God:

God makes us righteous.

Righteousness is gift,

from the God who justifies,

it's received by faith.

If Law's adherents

are God's heirs, faith is nothing,

God's promise is void.

The Law is not what

makes us righteous, without law

sin doesn't exist.

God's promise of life

comes through grace to all who share

in Abraham's faith.

With Abraham”s God

the dead have life, and nothings

are made to exist.

© Ken Rookes 2026

All of us

 

Haiku responding to Rom 5:12-19

Because all have sinned.

Not just Adam, all of us

are destined for death.

Sin was before law,

but is not counted as sin

before there was law.

Death was always here.

Even righteous people died;

from Adam onward.

God's free gift is life.

Grace came to us through Jesus,

one man, for many.

God's grace through Jesus

brings forgiveness, righteousness;

death no longer reigns.

From one man's tresspass

death reigned; through one's righteousness,

life for everyone!

One man disobeyed:

we share in his sin; one man

obeyed, we're made right!

(Original sin?

There is no need for Adam;

we do it ourselves.)

We made known to you

Haiku responding to 2 Pt 1:16-21

We came not with myths,

cleverly designed, we told

you of his coming

He came among us.

We witness to his power;

we saw it ourselves

We witnessed Jesus

in all of his majesty

in all his glory.

God acknowledged him

on the mountain, declaring:

My beloved Son!

We were with him there,

when the voice spoke from heaven,

in that holy place..

We bring a message

of prophecy, God confirms

the things that we say

Attend to these words,

light shining in a dark place,

dawning in your hearts.

No prophecy comes

from human will; but from those

moved by God's Spirit.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Among the mature

Haiku responding to 1 Cor 2:1-16

When I came to you,

Paul wrote, twasn't with big words,

or clever wisdom.

I was hesitant,

wanting my words to reflect

the power of God.

We do speak wisdom

among the mature; we speak

God's hidden myst'ry.

God's purpose stayed hid;

or else the Lord of glory

would not have been killed

Things of great wonder,

beyond thought, God has prepared

for those who love him.

God's Spirit is ours,

revealing to us wisdom

taught by the Spirit.

Spirit gifts from God

seem like foolishness to those

who lack the Spirit.

Who knows the Lord's mind,

to be guided by him? We

have the mind of Christ.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Foolishness

Haiku responding to 1 Cor 1:18-31

To those who perish

the cross is foolish; to us

it is God's power.

Wisdom has limits;

human wisdom cannot lead

to God's truth in Christ.

It seems foolish, but

we proclaim Christ crucified.

They stumble at this!

Christ is the power

and wisdom of God, for those

who have come to faith.

Consider yourselves:

few were wise, noble, or strong,

and yet God chose you.

God chose the foolish

and the weak, to shame the strong

and to shame the wise.

None of us can boast

in the presence of God, yet

here we are, in Christ!.

Jesus has become

wisdom, righteousness, from God.

Our boast is in him.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Undivided

Haiku responding to 1 Cor 1:10-18

Paul makes his appeal

for unity, decrying

the Corinth factions.

In the name of Christ

you must be knit together

in mind and purpose.

I hear of quarrels

among you, brothers, sisters;

that you form parties.

I belong to Paul,

some say; I to Apollos,

and I to Cephas!

Some, claiming high ground,

declare: I belong to Christ!

Is Christ divided?

Was Paul crucified

for you? Or were you baptised

in the name of Paul?

I, Paul, was not sent

to baptise; Christ sent me to

proclaim the gospel.

Eloquent wisdom

is not my concern; I speak

of the cross of Christ.

To those who perish

these words are foolish; to us

they are God's power.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Enriched

Haiku responding to 1 Cor 1:1-9

The apostle, Paul

writes a letter to his friends

at the Corinth church.

Greets them with his words

of grace and peace to bless them

on behalf of God.

With effusive words

Paul gives thanks for all the gifts

God has granted them.

A polite intro,

knowing there will be strong words

in pages to come!

The Corinthians

have been enriched in knowledge

and speech, by God's grace.

Their witness to Christ

has been strengthened, and, in turn,

Christ will strengthen them.

You are not lacking,

Paul notes, in spiritual gifts,

as you wait for Christ.

You will be blameless;

God who joins you into Christ

will not let you down.

© Ken Rookes 2026

Enlightened

Haiku responding to Acts 10:34-43

The Spirit descends

upon some gentiles. Peter

becomes enlightened.

I now understand

that God has no favourites;

God loves everyone!.

In every nation

people who do the right thing

are embraced by God.

This is our message

for Israel, and for all:

Jesus Christ is Lord.

God anointed him

with the Spirit, with power,

to do good, to heal.

In Jerusalem

and Judea he brought hope

They put him to death.

God raised him to life

on the third day; we saw him,

and we ate with him.

He sent us to preach,

to tell that he is from God

and brings forgiveness.

© Ken Rookes 2026