Il Nostro Meraviglioso Dio

Il Nostro Meraviglioso Dio

Jer 23:24
Potrebbe uno nascondersi nei nascondigli senza che io lo veda?», dice l'Eterno. «Non riempio io il cielo e la terra?», dice l'Eterno.

Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him?"
declares the LORD.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth?"
declares the LORD.

Our God is big!!
Il Nostro Dio e` grande!

I was reminded of this while reading Wired Magazine this week. They feature some images from the Hubble Telescope! Have a look at the other images too!

Our Creator God fills the universe. His splendor is everywhere…and He loves and know even me!

Il Nostro Dio mi conosce !

Reason, Faith and Revolution

In today’s New York Times there is a review by Stanley Fish of Terry Eagleton’s book Reason, Faith and Revolution. It is worthwhile reading the whole article as it is part of the ongoing global debate initiated by the likes of atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens (from whom Eagleton derived contemptuously the fictional character ‘Ditchkins’.)

The interesting thing is that Eagleton does not profess to be a Christian; however he attacks the poor arguments of Ditchkins in their war against religion and in particular Christianity.

In the opening sentence of the last chapter of his new book, “Reason, Faith and Revolution,” the British critic Terry Eagleton asks, “Why are the most unlikely people, including myself, suddenly talking about God?” His answer, elaborated in prose that is alternately witty, scabrous and angry, is that the other candidates for guidance — science, reason, liberalism, capitalism — just don’t deliver what is ultimately needed. “What other symbolic form,” he queries, “has managed to forge such direct links between the most universal and absolute of truths and the everyday practices of countless millions of men and women?”

Progress, liberalism and enlightenment — these are the watchwords of those, like Hitchens, who believe that in a modern world, religion has nothing to offer us. Don’t we discover cures for diseases every day? Doesn’t technology continually extend our powers and offer the promise of mastering nature? Who needs an outmoded, left-over medieval superstition?

And as for the vaunted triumph of liberalism, what about “the misery wreaked by racism and sexism, the sordid history of colonialism and imperialism, the generation of poverty and famine”? Only by ignoring all this and much more can the claim of human progress at the end of history be maintained: “If ever there was a pious myth and a piece of credulous superstition, it is the liberal-rationalist belief that, a few hiccups apart, we are all steadily en route to a finer world.”

“Self-sufficient” gets to the heart of what Eagleton sees as wrong with the “brittle triumphalism” of liberal rationalism and its ideology of science. From the perspective of a theistic religion, the cardinal error is the claim of the creature to be “self-originating”: “Self-authorship,” Eagleton proclaims, “is the bourgeois fantasy par excellence,”


The book starts out witty and then gets angrier and angrier. (There is the possibility, of course, that the later chapters were written first; I’m just talking about the temporal experience of reading it.) I spent some time trying to figure out why the anger was there and I came up with two explanations.

One is given by Eagleton, and it is personal. Christianity may or may not be the faith he holds to (he doesn’t tell us), but he speaks, he says, “partly in defense of my own forbearers, against the charge that the creed to which they dedicated their lives is worthless and void.”

The other source of his anger is implied but never quite made explicit. He is angry, I think, at having to expend so much mental and emotional energy refuting the shallow arguments of school-yard atheists like Hitchens and Dawkins. I know just how he feels.

Consumerism 3

Did it ever notice that Jesus talked a lot about money; in fact, He talked about money more than He talked about heaven and hell—combined? Ever wonder why the subject of His parables concerned finances more than any other topic?

Here are a few basic principles about dealing with God’s money.

1. Every cent we have belongs to God, not to us. If every part of us is surrendered to Christ and His will then so are our wallets. God has entrusted to us to be good stewards, not owners. The goal of being good stewards of God’s money is ultimately to bring Him glory.

2. God looks at our attitude toward money, not our quantity. Some people think that having a great amount of wealth is sinful and wrong. However, nowhere in Scripture will you find God condemning those who have a large amount of money or possessions. He condemns those whose attitudes about money are wrong. It’s always a matter of the heart with God. Our finances are no exception.

3. How we use our money will reflect the true intentions of our heart. Take a look at your chequebook or your next bank statement. Notice where you have spent your money in the last month or two? That’s where your heart is. (Where you treasure, there your heart will be also.)


How I handle my money is not a financial matter as much as it is a spiritual matter. Bringing tithes and offerings before the Lord is a form of worship. How I handle my money has eternal consequences (ie my use of it can effect others). And I grasped that the Lord was pleased with me when I handled my finances wisely and discerningly.

I just watched Into the Wild, a 2007 film based on the life of Christopher McCandless. Chris is a top student, but in an act of rebellion agaisnt everythibg he sees as wrong with society, including his parents, whom he perceives as materialistic, manipulative, and domineering, McCandless destroys all of his credit cards and identification documents, donates $24,000 (nearly his entire savings) to Oxfam, and sets out on a off to travel alone to Alaska and experience its nature firsthand.

Along the way, he abandons his automobile in the course of a flash flood, to hitchhike after burning the remainder of his dwindling cash supply. He acquires a Perception Sundance 12 open-water kayak and goes down the Colorado River, into Mexico, and later returns to America via freight train to Los Angeles.
He encounters many unconventional individuals along the way, such as a group of hippies, a farm owner and a lonely leather worker who offers to adopt and be a grandfather to McCandless. McCandless purposefully trudges onward to his final destination, arriving in the wilds of Alaska nearly two years after his initial departure.

The thing that I found so tragic about this story was that McCandless’ quest for meaning was to be found all around him, yet he persisted to go to Alaska in search of it. He met great people whose lives he influenced – he seemed to be a really nice guy. His thoughts at the time can be summarized in one of his statements to one of the people he meets: “I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.”

He seems driven to through off what he perceives as a straightjacket of materialism and people.

He starts living in a Bus, used as a shelter for moose hunters. McCandless finds joy in living off the land and begins to write a book of his adventures. As the spring thaw arrives and he seeks to return from the wild, McCandless is cut off from civilization by the torrents of a swelled river. As his food supply of small game dwindles, he resorts to eating indigenous plants. Although he consults a book that he brought along in order to identify edible plants in the wild, he confuses an edible and a poisonous variety, which shuts down his digestive system and causes him to starve to death.

It is not until he is dying that he realises that it is all about the relationships you form along the way. His dying words written in his journal are: Happiness is only real when shared.

In other words, what he was searching for, he ignored in his quest to find it.
How often do we do the same thing though? We are so determined to get to the goal, but the life God is wanting us to live is around us waiting for us to engage with it. More specifically, we should not relentlessly pursue any goal, no matter how noble, at the expense of our relationships – with God and with others.

Perhaps just a little reminder that the time and energy we invest into relationships, even it is across the world, are worth it.

Consumerism 2

Consider these facts:

1. Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two U.S. dollars a day.
2. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
3. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen.
4. According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”
That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year.
5.Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998

Global Priority/$U.S. Billions
Cosmetics in the United States?/8
Ice cream in Europe/11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States/12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States/17
Business entertainment in Japan/35
Cigarettes in Europe/50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe/105
Narcotics drugs in the world/400
Military spending in the world/780

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:

Global Priority/$U.S. Billions
Basic education for all /6
Water and sanitation for all /9
Reproductive health for all women /12
Basic health and nutrition /13

Consumerism

I have been prompted by a friends blog to dig out some thoughts on consumerism. Joseph McAuley has a great blog which is worth a look.

This has been very relevant to Andrea and myself while we are in Italy. We are on a reduced income which is in $NZ and spending Euro. We attempting to live frugally - at least in a different dimension to what we were in New Zealand.

Relevant magazine had a great article on consumerism some time ago. I have summarised some of it below or you can read the full article here.


In our society, we're surrounded by the push to consume. We're constantly bombarded with the newest gadget or trinket we supposedly cannot live without. How do we combat the pull toward materialism, and what does simplicity look like in the 21st Century?

Brian McLaren: This is a major theme I’ve been exploring in recent years, because I believe these days it’s the economy, not the nation-state, that is driving the world. It would be good for people to consider the ways capitalism can become a form of idolatry.

One of the most powerful things the next generation of emerging Christians can do is be at the heart of a new global movement for ethical buying and fair trade. We can use the power of markets for good, just as they have been used for evil in so many ways—environmentally, socially and politically. It’s a question of the Kingdom of God—how would we expect economics to work in the Kingdom of God, as opposed to the systems of this world?

Steve Brown:How should we then live? With simplicity, compassion and a realization that our hearts are where our treasure is.


N.T. Wright: Money becomes a god very, very easily. So giving it away cheerfully and wisely is a step toward really saying money is not the ruling force in our lives. Money is not the thing that makes you a genuine human being. Saying that is so counterintuitive in Western culture.

Nancy Ortberg: I think every Christian should take very seriously what they do with their finances. A starting place is tithing, to give 10 percent joyfully every time you get paid, and give it back to the Church, to help the Church be the force that it should be in the world. After you’ve got the habit of tithing down, start figuring out how much is enough. I used to tell my kids, “The lower the ceiling is on enough, the happier you’re going to be.”

When you can wake up in the morning or spend your day free from needing to run to the mall or look online and buy all this stuff, you’re going to have a freedom in your spirit that’s going to be a great way to live.

Beyond yourself, figure out how much is enough, and then start thinking of serious ways in which to give away boatloads of money. Find organizations you care about that are making a difference. How do you release your money back into the world to do good when you have enough clothes in your closet and enough cars in your garage? The freedom that comes from that really teaches us a lot about God. It also teaches us there’s no end to His resources. And I’m not advocating just giving away all of your money, but when you have enough, it really becomes incumbent on us as Christians to use our money for a strong force in the world.

Cindy Jacobs: God has worked in this generation a desire to make the world a better place for all. This means grappling with issues of eliminating systemic poverty, taking care of the environment and living with each other in a kinder, more relational way.

For this reason, I believe the question is, How much is enough? We need to make wealth to steward it to create jobs, help single moms, the elderly and find ways to deal with the AIDS crisis. Our lifestyle should not be “me” centric, but “Kingdom of God” centric.

When you lose 'it'

Here are some final thoughts from Craig Groeschel's Book.

Maybe its time for you to ask him for it. For him to become the true center of your life.
- First, I had to admit that I had lost it. I’ve lost it. Ive taken my eyes off the prize. I’ve been distracted from a wholehearted pursuit of Christ.
- Second, decide to get it back. My role as a pastor was interfering with my passion for God. Slowly I started to fall in love with God again – not with his bride, the church.

I’ve made three prayers a part of my daily prayer life. These heartfelt and dangerous prayers have helped me to keep it.

Stretch Me
God wants to stretch you. He wants you to live by faith, to believe him. It will mean putting yourself in new environments. Experiencing something new. Something different. Ask God to stretch you. Then follow his direction. He might direct you to change your leadership style or the way you preach. He might challenge you to go to a third world country and leave behind part of your heart. He might ask you to give like you’ve never given before. He might lead you to do something your closest friends believe is foolish and impossible. Attempt what others say can’t be done. You have more in you than you realize. God has put more in you than anyone else sees.

Ruin Me
Whenever I meet someone who has it – a heart abandoned for Christ – I’m meeting ruined people. I’m not talking about a destructive ruin. I’m referring to the work of a loving God who breaks us and ruins us for his glory. Maybe its time to let God ruin you. Let God crush you with a burden.

Heal Me
Allow the Spirit of God to make things new within you!

L'Aquila Earthquake

As the world has seen, on 6 April most of central Italy was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake centred in the city of L'aquilla (incidently reknowned for its rugby)caused serious damage to several medieval hill towns in the region, killing over 260 residents, injuring over 1,000 and leaving 28,000 homeless. Despite the dangers from aftershocks, the search for survivors continues, and will be maintained until Sunday, after which the daunting tasks of cleanup and reconstruction willl begin.

The questions asked again at times like this is "Why did God allow this to happen?' 'Where was God?'

I don’t really know. However I do know that His love and compassion are revealed in how we respond to such a disaster. When we see such a catastrophe how do we respond? In a way that reflects the love of Christ?...or are we momentarily distracted, then move back to ‘real life’ quickly?

When catastrophe happens do we offer a momentary thought or prayer or are we moved to action? It is only when we act that bring the love of god into such a situation.
Apparently the Evangelical church here in Italy has revealed the love of Christ in the midst of tragedy. The church has been noted for its relief efforts. One news item mentioned organisations that were ‘not the evangelical church – in other words the evangelical church led the relief efforts, but there were some other organisations that helped!

Here Christ is glorified through the actions of Christians.

Hearts Focused Outward

More from Craig Groeschel

If your gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you. – Curry R. Blake

I’d argue that people today aren’t rejecting Christ so much as they’re rejecting the church.

It-free churches are often very friendly. In fact, they can be so tight, so bonded, so close – to each other – that they unintentionally overlook those they don’t know. On the other hand ministries with it remember that Jesus came for outsiders. He came for those who were lost. Broken, hurting, disenfranchised. Alone, overlooked.

Who Do you love?
Do you love those who are without Christ? Be honest. Does your ministry have people whose hearts beat for those outside the family of God? Churches that have it care fore each other and for people who are far from God.

An Open-Roof Policy
When have we forgotten that the church doesn’t exist for us? We are the church and we exist for the world. – Erwin McManus

Turning Outward
- When is the last time you’ve had a lost person in your home
- How many meaningful conversations did you have with non-Christians this week?
- Who are the nonbelievers you prayed for today?

Your love for them will increase. When that happens, you get it, and it’s almost impossible to turn off. Your prayer life increases. You’re looking for opportunities to shift conversations toward spiritual things. You’re ever aware that you’re representing Christ.

If you’re a leader of your ministry, you need to recognize that for better or for worse, your ministry reflects you. If you don’t care about Christless lives, the people you lead aren’t likely to care.

Shifting the Focus Outward
- Your people don’t have relationships with the lost
- Your people are too embarrassed to bring their friends to church
- Your building and/or people are subtly communicating ‘stay away’.

Comaraderie

Craig Groeschel has a great chapter in his book about camaraderie. You need to enjoy ‘It’ With Others

Ministries that have it enjoy it together. They have an unmistakable camaraderie.

People with friends at work are 96 percent more likely to be extremely satisfied with their life. Happier people make better team members.

The team with it loves each other. Not only do they minister together, they do life together. What they have is more than friendship. It’s something that God gives – more of a partnership of people with deep love committed to a single mission. You’re more than friends. You’re a team.

We need to make sure there are people close to us who have refrigerator rights. What are refrigerator rights? Someone with refrigerator rights is a person who is so trusted they can walk into your home, open your refrigerator and help themselves to a sandwich and a drink.

Teams with it look for excuses to celebrate. Anniversaries, completion of significant projects. Ministry launches. Personal victories.

Oprah Winfry said, “the more you praise and celebrate your life the more in life there is to celebrate.

I thought this was a great challenge, especially the idea of refrigerator rights.

Vision - From Craig Groeschel

Vision

Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint. - NIV
Where there is no vision, the people perish - KJV
When people do not accept divine guidance they run wild - NLT
Without prophetic vision people run wild – God’s Word)
Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint - NRSV
If people can’t see what God is doing they stumble all over themselves – MSG

Without chazown (vision, revelation, divine guidance), the people we lead will be confused, scattered, unfocused and easily distracted. Unfortunately, this is how many ministries and organizations function: visionless and without it.

People in a visionless church are like that. Without vision alignment, the people are busy doing something. They’re driving along, doing church, but without any direction and are easily pulled off center. The ministry may have tons of activity, but there’s little spiritual movement.

Ministries that have it always have a clear vision. The people know the vision, understand the vision, believe in the vision and live the vision. The vision guides them, motivates them and energizes them.

Without vision, people perish. Dreams fade. Youth groups lose their life. Once vibrant churches slowly die.

The original mission fades as the organization drifts.

Define Your Vision
Do you have a vision? Many churches and organizations have a vision statement. But in reality, they have no vision.

Finding The Vision
Hopefully the leaders of your church will seek God, find a divine burden examine their resources and context and present a Spirit-breathed, God-sized vision!

1. Why does your organization exist?
2. What can your organization be the best in the world at?
3. If you could do only one thing, what would it be?
4. If you left your organization tomorrow, what would you hope would continue forever?
5. What breaks your heart, keeps you awake at night, wrecks you?

An Effective Vision
An effective vision will always be memorable, portable and motivational - Dr. Sam Chand

A great vision statement is memorable.
Your vision must be portable.
Your vision should also be motivational.

It should cause agitation, ambition, ignition, even competition.

- People tend to give sacrificially for it
- People will tolerate inconveniences for the greater cause
- People will talk
- The organization and ministry will take on a life of is own
- Opportunities for distraction will decrease

Vision leaks – Andy Stanley

Talk about the vision. Tell stories about the vision. Illustrate the vision. Reward those who live the vision. Highlight the vision. Once you have done all of the above, do it all again.

Divine Focus: You Know Where It Is Not

Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets. – Nido Qubein, Business Consultant

In my observation, ministries that have it tend to be focused on a limited set of targets. They do a few things as if all eternity hinged on their results, and they do these things with godly excellence.

They are almost obnoxiously passionate about a few important things.

Someone once said, “if you chase two rabbits, both will escape.”

Too Many, Too Much, Too Bad
An Italian proverb says, “Often he who does too much does too little.”

Cutting Back To Move Forward
Don’t let your vision become blurry. Busyness blurs ministry vision.

What is it?

In his book, “How Churches and Leaders Can Get IT and Keep IT” Craig Groeschel explains that ‘IT’ is that unexplainable ‘something’ that creates health, life and growth.

It is what God does through a rare combination of these qualities found in his people:
- Passion for his presence
- A deep craving to reach the lost
- Sincere integrity
- Spirit-filled faith
- Down-to-earth humility
- Brokenness

How Churches and Leaders Can Get IT and Keep IT

I have just finished reading “How Churches and Leaders Can Get IT and Keep IT” by Craig Groeschel. It is a brilliant practical book on church leadership that I highly recommend. Craig is the founding and Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.tv which is a highly innovative church with dozens of weekly worship experiences in thirteen locations, including an internet campus!

Craig has a blog which is really thought provoking for those in ministry www.swerve.lifechurch.tv

I see Craig is speaking at Hillsong Conference this year so I am a bit disappointed I won’t be there. I would have loved to have heard him.

I will blog a few notes from my reading of his book over the next few days.

Our Apartment

Fruit of the Spirit

A Fruitful Life

Jesus was interested in our fruit (Matthew 7:15-23). One knows God's followers 'by their fruit'.

If the Spirit dwells in a person, that person will start taking on the characteristics described as the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit works to change Christians. It’s not automatic or sudden. Like everything else in this broken world and its broken people, it's something that arises in part, not completely, in this life. The Spirit is always working for something better.

Galations 5
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

These fruit lists describe what a Christian's character grows into, over time.

In this passage Paul tells us how we are to respond to this freedom we have. We should choose to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. This is a choice that each of us as Christians make every day.

The Fruit

Love
Love must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty. Every virtue is an expression of love.

Joy
The Biblical Greek term in Galatians is chara: joy, cheer, gladness, or celebration. Joy runs deeper than mere pleasure; especially in a spiritual context, it runs deep into the core of us, and radiates throughout.

Peace
The Greek term is irenic : bringing or causing peace: peace-making, shalom, reconciliation. When something is done in an irenic way, it is being done in a way that helps find common ground, creates understanding and appreciation, or soothes sore points of dispute. Paul was calling Christians to be irenic when he wrote of his ministry as a "ministry of reconciliation".

Patience
To endure something with calmness; the ability to willingly accept or tolerate delay or hardship.

Kindness
Being of a friendly or generous nature; showing sympathy, mercy, empathy, or understanding; beneficial to something's function. "useful for others"

Goodness
To be helpful, to do things with excellence.

Faithfulness
Loyal, full of faith or trust; firmly and resolutely sticking with a person, group, cause, belief, or idea, without waver.

Gentleness
Soft, tender; well-managed, not sudden or rash or angry, taking care not to harm others.

Self-control
Asserting power over or management of one's desires, lusts, emotions, and feelings, and related behaviors, by way of one's determination or will. The ability to tell yourself "no" and make it stick. The ability to direct one's own behavior and harness one's energies.

As Christians we have been given freedom - we are not forced to live a certain way but we have freedom to choose how to live.

We can use our freedom to choose, to show to self and others that we are children of God by cultivating fruit We do this by focussing on Christ and abiding in Him.
Donald Gee tells the story of when he was young and tried to plant tomatoes. That particular summer was not very good for growing plants. His tomatoes never developed on the plants not even little green tomatoes. He was thrilled when he came outside one day to find big red ripe tomatoes on his vines. When he got closer he realized they were tied on by his mother. Sometimes, we also try to fake the fruit of the Spirit. We try to tie it onto an unchanged life.

Fruit is not a matter of effort and struggle, but it is the simple expression of the inner life of the tree. So, the Fruit of the Spirit is a simple expression of our inner life when we are abiding in Christ.

It is only as we constantly abide in Jesus that we bear fruit.

JN 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

The question is, how are we cultivating the fruit in our everyday lives? Sometimes as Christians we attempt to avoid different things, eg don’t sin, don’t be unkind or impatient. But what about approaching the day with the reverse. Asking where we can show kindness, or being thankful for an opportunity to be patient, actively engage in peacemaking and so on. This, I think would help us to be effective salt and light.

Good old Aussies

Good Old Aussies

I find that generally Australian culture treads a fine line between healthy self confidence and self-centered arrogance. My guess is that this is why they excel in so many areas and punch above their weight internationally in sport and politics.

We encountered a few good examples of this in Melbourne. On the third night of the open, instead of the top seeds playing on the Rod Laver Arena, two unseeded Australians got the prime time slots Jelena Dokic and Bernard Tomic.

After reaching the third round Jelena Dokic is now being re-embraced by the Australian public after years in the wilderness. It would appear the Aussies are quick to forgive winners! A column in the ‘Herald Sun’ mentioned that usually the Australian public a slow to forgive and mentions Australia never forgiving the Americans for Phar lap! It is very big of them to take on an offence regarding a New Zealand horse!!

16 year old Bernard Tomic is an exciting tennis prospect, but ranked 768 in the world and playing an unseeded opponent was also on centre court. The decision to put these two players on Rod Laver was all about Australia, not tennis, but good on them.

When Roger Federer won his second round game, playing in the heat of the day instead of on the evening slot (making way for the Australia show) he was interviewed by Jim Courier. All the questions were designed to promote the Australian playing in the evening. “Thanks for coming and being a warm up act for our 16 year old 768th ranked tennis boy Roger, you little ripper!”

I was reading the 128 page Herald Sun and managed to find 6 pages on world events (3 of them photos of President Obama’s inauguration). The rest of the paper – an all Australia affair!

Well, that’s enough of Australians talking up Australia, what do you love about Australia!?

I do however prefer this than much of the self-defeating cynicism of home. I am looking forward to Australia Day on Monday. I am pretty sure that it will be slightly more celebratory than good old Waitangi Day.

Tennis

Going to the Australian Open tomorrow I decided to have a look at the history of the game.

It's predecessor- Real Tennis, surprised me a bit. Here is a bit from the wikipedia.

Real tennis is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis, or tennis, is descended. It is also known as jeu de paume in France, "court tennis" in the United States.
Real tennis is still played by enthusiasts on 47 existing courts in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and France.

The term "tennis" derives from the French word tenez, which means "take heed" — a warning from the server to the receiver. Real tennis evolved over three centuries from an earlier ball game played around the 12th century in France. This had some similarities to handball, involving hitting a ball with a bare hand and later with a glove. One theory is that this game was played by monks in monastery cloisters based on the construction and appearance of early courts. By the 16th century, the glove had become a racquet, the game had moved to an enclosed playing area, and the rules had stabilized. Real tennis spread across Europe, with the Papal Legate reporting in 1596 that there were 250 courts in Paris alone, near the peak of its popularity in France.

In Victorian England real tennis had a revival but broad public interest shifted to the outdoor game of lawn tennis which quickly became the most popular form of the sport. Real tennis courts were built in Australia (1875) and in the United States starting in 1876 in Boston, followed by New York in 1890, and also at a few other athletic clubs.

The rules and scoring are similar to those of lawn tennis. Although in both sports game scoring is by fifteens (with the exception of 40, which was shortened from forty-five)), in real tennis six games wins a set, even if the opponent has five games. A match is typically best of five sets.
The balls are much less bouncy than a lawn tennis ball. The 27 inch (686 mm) long racquets are made of wood and use very tight strings to cope with the heavy ball. The racquet head is bent slightly to make it easier to strike balls close to the floor or in corners.

A real tennis court (jeu à dedans) is a very substantial building (a larger area than a lawn tennis court, with walls and a ceiling to contain all but the highest lob shots). It is enclosed by walls on all sides, three of which have sloping roofs (known as "penthouses") with various openings, and a buttress (tambour) off which shots may be played.. The courts are about 110 by 39 feet (33.5 × 11.9 m) including the penthouses, or about 96 by 32 feet (29.3 × 9.8 m) on the playing floor, varying by a foot or two per court. They are doubly asymmetric— not only is one end of the court different in the shape from the other, but the left and right sides of the court are also different.

The service happens from only one end of the court (the "service" end) and the ball must touch the penthouse above and to the left of the server once before touching the floor in the "hazard" (receiving) end of the court. There are numerous and widely differing styles of service, many with exotic names to distinguish them, such as "railroad", "bobble", "poop", "pique", "boomerang" and "giraffe".

The game has other complexities, including that when the ball bounces twice at the serving end the serving player does not generally lose the point outright. Instead a "chase" is called and the server gets the chance, later in the game currently being played, to replay the point from the other end, but under the obligation of ensuring every shot he plays has a second bounce further back from the net than the shot he failed to reach. A chase can also be called at the receiving ("hazard") end, but only on the half of that end nearest the net; this is called a "hazard" chase. Those areas of the court in which chases can be called are marked with lines running across the floor, from left to right, generally about 1-yard (0.91 m) apart - it is these lines that the chases are measured against. One result of this feature is that a player can gain the advantage of serving only through skillful play (viz. "laying" a "chase", which ensures a change of end). This is in marked contrast to lawn tennis where players alternately serve and receive entire games. It is thus not uncommon in real tennis to see a player serve for several consecutive games till a chase be made. Indeed, an entire match (theoretically) could be played with no change of service, the same player serving every point.

The heavy unbouncy balls take a great deal of spin, causing them to swerve when bounced off the walls, and a cutting stroke is often used to cause them to drop sharply off the back wall for the sake of a good chase.

Another twist to the game is the various windows below the penthouse roof that, in some cases, offer the player a chance to win the point instantly by hitting the ball into the opening. The largest window, located behind the server, is called the "Dedans" and must often be defended from hard hit shots (called "forces") coming from the receiving (called the "hazard") side of the court. The resulting strategy of long volleys and shots off the side walls and penthouse roof lead to many interesting shots not normally played in lawn tennis. However, because of the weight of the balls, the small racquets and the need to defend the rear of the court, lawn tennis strategies like serve and volley are rarely employed.