Religion/ Spirituality

Tom Cruise underwrites so much of Scientology, people connected with the Church root for the success of his movies, even when they suck.

P.I. Daniel Powell, who claims to have been hired by the Church to tail the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige, joked with cops ... Tom was the biggest moneymaker by far in the Church.

In fact, Powell wisecracks that Tom is probably paying the $10k a week salary to keep tabs on and harass Ronald Miscavige.

A private investigator was arrested with an arsenal of weapons ... he says while he and his son were mercilessly harassing Scientology leader David Miscavige's father, and at one point when it appeared David's dad was having a heart attack the P.I.s say David told them to just "let him die."

The claims are absolutely shocking. P.I. Dwayne Powell and his son Daniel were on a job in West Allis, Wisconsin in 2013, where Ronald Miscavige lived with his wife. Dwayne says he was surveilling Ronald Miscavige for a year and a half on orders of the Church. Dwayne says the Church was worried Ronald -- who left Scientology -- would "divulge details about the church's activities."

Dwayne says he and his son were paid $10,000 a week to tail Ronald, and harass him. They would search his garbage, sit next to Ronald when he went to restaurants, stand behind him when Ron went to the library to check his emails so they could view the screen, and on and on.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Dwayne said on one occasion "Ron was loading his purchases into his car and slumped over while grasping his chest." Dwayne and his son thought Ron was having a heart attack so they called their Church contact. Dwayne says 2 minutes later he got a call from a man who identified himself as David Miscavige. The police report says Dwayne recounted that David told him, "If it was Ron's time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way."

Dwayne was arrested in July 2013, after witnesses reported he was acting suspiciously. When cops searched his car, they found an arsenal of loaded weapons, including a silencer and hundreds of rounds of ammo.

Most recently, in September 2014 ... Ronald went to cops again and said he was still being followed and someone had gone through his trash. He told police David was afraid he would "speak with the media about the negative inner workings of the church and David's abuse of the members of the church."

David Miscavige's lawyer told the L.A. Times, which broke the story, that David did not know Dwayne Powell, hasn't heard of him, hasn't spoken with him and never hired him.

Webbie got baptized on Easter, and he says he got the calling from the Big Man himself.

Webbie -- yeah the same guy who got busted for drugs in 2011, and battery in 2012 -- was down at a Louisiana church Sunday, when the preacher asked if anyone wanted to be baptized. The rapper said the good Lord told him to take the plunge.

Bada bing, bada boom ... instant Christian.

We're told it only took about 30 seconds to find salvation and after he was saved, he celebrated with friends over boiled crawfish.

No word whether he'll still pump out Bible-friendly classics like "Gutta Bitch," "Bad Bitch," or "Trilla Than A Bitch."

In the documentary ... former Scientologists call for Travolta and Tom Cruise to speak out against the church, but Travolta says, "I haven't experienced anything that the hearsay has (claimed), so why would I communicate something that wasn't true for me?"

Travolta told the Tampa Bay Times he expected the same reaction from Tom Cruise.

He says he has no plans to watch "Going Clear" ... which he called the product of "people who were disgruntled with their experiences."

Travolta added he couldn't have got through tragedies like his son Jett's death without the church's "technology" ... and added, Scientology has "been so beautiful for me, that I can't even imagine attacking it."

Mike Tyson has officially given his blessing to the church looking to move into his old digs ... telling TMZ Sports he thinks the pad's residential resurrection is pretty damn awesome.

Tyson was out in NYC when we asked the ex-champ if he knew his old Ohio den of sin had been bought by a developer who plans to turn it into a House of the Lord.

As we previously reported, Mike got rid of the 5 bedroom, 7.5 bath mega-mansion in 1999 ... but the property still has some trademark Tyson decor ... including a massive hot tub with mirrored ceilings.

Check out the clip -- Iron Mike lights up at the idea of his spot being turned into a worship center.

It's never too late to change ... it's just a lot easier for inanimate objects.

Rev. Robert H. Schuller -- the minister behind TV's "Hour of Power" -- died from esophageal cancer Thursday morning.

Schuller was at a nursing facility in Artesia, CA when he passed away. He'd been diagnosed with cancer in 2013.

Schuller was one of the early televangelists ... launching the "Hour of Power" in 1970 -- and he continued to preach on the program until 2010.

The reverend was also famous for building the 2700-seat Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA ... which opened in 1981. He retired as senior minister there in 2006. His son initially took over, and eventually his daughter became the church's leader.

The Cathedral filed for bankruptcy in 2010, but Schuller's legacy continues on TV -- one of his grandsons took over the "Hour of Power" in 2013.

Schuller was 88 years old.

The price was right for Mike Tyson's former Ohio palace to get snatched up by a fledgling church ... which got a very sweet deal for the 58-acres -- and we've learned Tyson will have an open invitation.

Pastor Nick Dejacimo with The Living Word Sanctuary tells TMZ Sports they dropped $750k on the land and the house ... which is 33,000 sq. ft. Yeah, that's a lot of money ... until you consider it was valued at $1.3 million in 1999.

Pastor Nick says the place is almost ready to move in -- "The skylights, arches, and windows in the pool area, it literally looks like a church." As for the dilapidated pool ... he says it will be filled in and converted to the sanctuary.

He adds his humble congregation of 140 has saved 9 years worth of tithing donations in order to make the purchase. In addition to the church ... they plan to renovate part of the land into a workout facility with a jogging path.

The insane over-the-top Ohio mansion where Mike Tyson lived and partied in the '80s and '90s is getting a complete makeover ... in Jesus' name.

The mansion is insane -- featuring marble EVERYWHERE, a hot tub with mirrored ceiling, indoor pool, tiger cages, a basketball court and more.

Tyson sold the place in 1999 ... and it's had multiple owners since then ... but now, according to the Daily Mail, it's been bought by a developer who plans to turn the property into a church.

The place isn't in terrible shape ... but it does need some work ... especially since vandals tagged the joint, leaving several "anarchy" symbols around the house.

Destiny's Child was back in business Saturday night in Vegas for the Gospel Music Awards ... and we're talkin' Beyonce.

Actually the star was Michelle Williams, who picked up the award for Music Video of the Year for her song, "Say Yes." The song features Beyonce and Kelly Rowland, but they don't go by D.C.

The girls performed the song, and it's really great. The crowd loved it.

French Montana serenaded a bunch of 13-year-olds with a song celebrating cocaine ... at a very fancy schmancy Bar Mitzvah!

It was all in good fun, as the youngest son of Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf transitioned into manhood Saturday at the ridiculously expensive Cipriani restaurant in NYC.

French got the kids turnt up with 'I'm in Love with the CoCo.' Andrew the Bar Mitzvah boy made his entrance in a hamster ball with exploding confetti.

And famed electric violinist Irene Fong did her thing in front of the crowd.

We have no idea how much Wilf dropped on the shindig, but we know French's going rate is $100k for private functions.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are not at war over the Church of Scientology ... they don't communicate because they have an intense dislike for one another.

When we broke the story -- that Katie and Tom are so estranged they don't even talk about raising their 8-year-old daughter Suri -- we started getting tips that Tom has shut her out because she's an SP ... a Suppressive Person.

An SP stands for several things, including people who disavow the Church. The Church has a procedure for declaring people SPs. Once they're declared an SP, people in the Church are told not to associate with them.

Well-placed sources close to the Church tell TMZ, Katie was NOT declared a Suppressive Person. What's interesting, we're told Katie actually thinks she's been declared one ... but she hasn't.

Sources connected with Tom and Katie tell us there are hard feelings on both sides, which is why they don't communicate. For Tom's part, he feels betrayed because he claims Katie never gave him any warning she was leaving him. For Katie's part, we're told she felt Tom sucked the life out of her.

In the end, Suri is living with her mom and sees her dad from time to time, but the family unit is completely shattered.

Kabbalah has led Madonna to the Holy Land ... the Material Girl is designing a massive two-story mega-retreat perched atop a soaring Tel Aviv skyscraper.

Sources close to the deal say Madge's nearly 2-year wait is over and she is finalizing the details on a completely customized 12,000 sq. ft. condo towering high above the White City -- all for a cool $20 mil.

If the 360 degree view of the Mediterranean from her rooftop pool isn't vogue enough ... we're told she's outfitting her 2-floor crib with a first-class gym, and a sprawling living room. The crib is prime real estate ... sitting atop a 42-story tower designed by renowned Getty architect Richard Meier.

She'll have some famous neighbors ... Scott Disick recently scored a Tel Aviv condo and Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are also rumored to be hunting for a hideaway there.

We reached out to mega-realtor Tomer Friedman who reps the building ... so far no word back.

Mazel tov, Madge!

3:00 PM PT -- Sources close to Madonna tell TMZ it is absolutely false, she is not buying anything in Israel.

Lolo Jones -- U.S. Olympian and self-proclaimed virgin -- says "Fifty Shades of Grey" is an abomination ... and people should boycott the movie because it glamorizes unholy sex.

Jones -- who's also a devout Evangelical Christian -- went to Twitter and wrote, "Funny how some people think there's nothing wrong with 50 shades of Grey. God didn't create sex for that purpose."

She added, "Watch another movie."

Jones then explained her stance ... saying the movie's hypersexual plot makes people feel that sex for pleasure is the answer to emotional pain.

"Some ppl medicate pain by being more and more physical to where if they are ever alone they can't feel any peace," Jones wrote.

The tweet is in direct contrast to Russell Wilson, another devout Christian who says it's not only OK to see the movie ... but admits he took in a screening last week and said he thought it was "great."

Bobby Brown is adamant ... he doesn't want to take his daughter Bobbi Kristina off life support because he believes in God-driven miracles.

Bobby's feelings are not shared by doctors, who have advised him she will not improve and pulling life support is an appropriate action. But Brown and his family -- who are deeply religious -- believe doctors cannot account for miracles ... miracles the family has seen before.

We're told Bobbi Kristina's condition has remained the same since Monday morning ... her brain functions are minimal and there has been no improvement.

Family sources say this has been an ongoing discussion and they believe Brown could come around to the doctor's point of view as time goes on ... but as of late Thursday he's not budging.

When his daughter was transferred to Emory University Hospital Tuesday Brown was hopeful the renowned staff could do something, but the fact that there's been no change is what doctors believe is the handwriting on the wall.

You'd expect all eyes to be on Nick Jonas while he's performing for a bunch of 13-year-olds -- yet an adorable preteen fan stole his thunder during a Bat Mitzvah.

Nick made $100,000 to be the surprise singer at Jillian Gaslow's Paris-themed event in NYC last weekend. If you're wondering who coughed up the dough ... Jillian's pop is a furniture industry big wig.

The JoBro was hired to belt out 3 tunes, including "Jealous," during a 30 minute performance -- and while the crowd LOVED him ... Jillian seemed a little nervous and starstruck onstage.

Best part of the vid ... the little girl who stormed the stage and shocked Nick with a bear hug. #SpotlightStolen.

Mazel Tov!

Val Kilmer's family believes the actor is killing himself by not dealing with a serious tumor ... because of his religious beliefs.

TMZ broke the story ... Val was rushed to the hospital Monday night after he started bleeding from the throat. Doctors at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica operated immediately and found a tumor. We're told the surgery was invasive ... they needed to enlarge a path to facilitate breathing.

Family members tell TMZ ... Val has known about the tumor since Summer. He had trouble speaking and his neck swelled to the point he covered it up with scarves and other clothing items.

The family members say they urged Val to seek treatment but he would have none of it because of his Christian Science beliefs. They say he shunned medical treatment and anyone who persisted got cut out of his life.

Christian Science followers generally believe prayer heals, not medical treatment.

The family says Val would never confess to pain because it was an admission that prayer didn't work, but when he started coughing up blood Monday his options ran out.

The family is hopeful because Val seems somewhat more receptive to treatment.

We reached out to the Christian Science Church ... so far no word back.