Religion/ Spirituality

Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and North West have left Armenia for the Holy Land ... and the end game is watering the baby.

It was supposed to be an 8 day trip to Armenia, but they bailed 5 days in and jumped on a plane to Jerusalem.

North West will be baptized in a 12th-century Armenian church, according to the Jerusalem Post.

It's interesting ... cameras for "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" are recording the entire trip, and Kanye is happily playing along.

David Miscavige and his Church of Scientology are on a mission -- to "dig up dirt" on people who talk crap on them -- so claims the private investigator who says he was hired to keep David's dad in line. The audio is pretty amazing.

TMZ obtained police audio in which P.I. Daniel Powell told Wisconsin detectives he and his dad were paid $10k a week from the Church to shadow Ronald Miscavige ... to follow him, see who he's talking to, monitor his emails and most of all make sure he's not bad-mouthing David.

Daniel says Ronald used to be the Musical Director of the Church, until David decided his stuff was outdated and put him out to pasture. Daniel says Ronald started going after David, and that's when they were hired to unrelentingly control the elder Miscavige.

Daniel says David paid Ronald off on numerous occasions to keep him quiet.

And Daniel says David has reason to fear Ronald ... because dad has the goods and David is "a terrible person."

Chilling audio ... the father of Scientology leader David Miscavige appeared to be having a heart attack, and his son ordered his people to stand clear and just let him die ... so claims the P.I. who was tailing David's dad.

P.I. Daniel Powell recounted during a police interview in 2013 how he and his dad were following Ronald Miscavige, who left the church, when Ronald suddenly slumped over and appeared to be having a coronary.

Powell says his dad, Dwayne, called the people who hired him on behalf of Scientology and informed them of the situation. He says a short time later David called Dwayne and instructed him not to render aid ... if he died, he died.

We're told it ended up just being a case of the cramps.

David Miscavige's lawyer denies his client hired the P.I.s or even knew them.

DMX believes the forces of evil are hard at work to take him down ... but he's not worried one bit ... because he's got God on his side and a lawyer who says he isn't a gun-toting thief.

X has admitted all along, he was at the gas station but he denies robbing anyone. He says he has no idea what the New Jersey man accusing him of holding him up at a gas station for $3,200 earlier this week is talking about, but he believes these kinds of charges just come with the territory.

We're not sure if his logic about his innocence would hold up in a courtroom, but it still sounds pretty good to us.

As for the people trying to tear him down ... X quotes Scripture and says they're gonna need to bring in the big guns.

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.