Religion/ Spirituality

Lil Durk -- the rapper accused of attempted murder -- wants to stay on the straight and narrow path after bonding out of jail ... and his childhood pastor's taking up the cause.

We've learned Durk's going back to his roots by placing himself back under the wings of his pastor who presided over the church he attended as a kid in Chicago. The pastor -- who's like a second father to Durk -- he flew from Chicago to Atlanta to vouch for the rapper at a recent hearing -- plans to use his ATL connections to get Durk involved in the community.

Durk apparently plans to spend time at shelters and soup kitchens. We're told he wants to get his hands dirty ... just like he used to in Chicago with the guidance of his pastor. He'd mentor kids there but, for obvious reasons, Durk's work in Chi-Town's been put on hold given the serious charges.

As we reported ... Durk posted $250k bond Friday after a judge agreed he's not a flight risk. Dude was so ecstatic getting outta jail ... he literally skipped all the way to his waiting SUV. Durk will have a curfew and have to wear an ankle monitor.

He turned himself in nearly a month ago after an arrest warrant was issued in connection to a February shooting outside a restaurant called The Varsity. A detective said in court, cops have surveillance video showing Durk firing a weapon from a car. The victim, shot in the thigh, survived.

Paris' archbishop ditched his holy headgear for something a little more practical during the first mass in the Notre Dame Cathedral since the fire ... opting for a helmet instead.

Archbishop Michel Aupetit and a number of his fellow clergymen held their first church service Saturday in a chapel behind the choir, which was deemed safe by construction experts who'd been consulted on the ceremony ... according to AP.

Auteptit wasn't the only one protecting his noggin from any potential lingering debris from the ravaged roof -- which was set ablaze in April. A bunch of other priests on hand, as well as about 30 others who were present, all appeared to be wearing hard-hat helmets.

Hey ... better safe than sorry, right? Authorities have said the place is still very much so in the rebuilding phase -- and will be for the next 3 years -- and it's likely somewhat hazardous after the inferno destroyed much of the roof as well as the structure's spire.

You don't wanna leave anything to chance ... or faith, for that matter. Treating it like a construction site's a good idea if you're going in there. And go in they certainly did.

According to reports, Saturday's mass marked the anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral's altar, which is apparently celebrated each year in June. Fire or not ... these guys clearly take the affair seriously enough to risk injury or worse.

What's also interesting ... if the priests were able to get in this early and hold mass, ya gotta wonder if they'll reopen their doors early to the masses as well.

Al Sharpton's looking up at the scoreboard and it currently reads Robert F. Smith 1, President Trump 0 ... at least when it comes to taking care of America's crushing student debt.

We got the reverend out Monday morning at Reagan National Airport in D.C. and got his take on the billionaire investor's shocking commencement speech at Morehouse College. If ya missed it, Smith told the 2019 class he was paying off ALL of their student loans.

Not surprisingly ... the crowd went nuts and serenaded the richest African-American person in the U.S. (net worth around $5 billion) with "MVP!" chants. If you're doing the math ... school officials believe Smith will drop around $40 mil to cover 396 students.

Al, who in 2012 was honored by Morehouse and spoke to its graduating class, says the gift is nothing short of transformative. The reverend says that single gesture does WAY more than anything Trump's Department of Education has done since he's been in office.

Chicago Cubs star Ben Zobrist and his Christian pop singer wife are headin' for Splitsville ... 'cause Julianna Zobrist has filed for divorce ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

There's been speculation about their relationship after Zobrist left the team last week due to "personal reasons" ... and Julianna deleted her Twitter and scrubbed her IG of most of their pics together.

Court records in Illinois show the singer filed the docs on Monday ... confirming the split is in the works.

Ben was the World Series MVP when the Cubs won in 2016. He's also a 3-time All-Star.

Julianna is a pretty successful singer -- 1 single from her 2016 album, "Shatterproof," hit the Billboard charts.

She also famously performed "God Bless America" at Wrigley Field before Game 4 of the 2016 World Series (the Cubs ended up losing that game).

Zobrist and Julianna have been married since 2005 and 3 kids together -- a son and 2 daughters.

Kanye West is remembering his late mom, Donda West, with a very special Sunday Service ... and the tribute was truly touching on Mother's Day, from start to end.

Ye was live streaming his weekly spiritual event Sunday, which was being filmed in the same fisheye lens he used during his big set at Coachella a few weeks back. It began with the rapper making his way to the stage with Tupac's "Dear Mama" track as walk-up music.

Fitting ... seeing how he followed with his own shout-out to his mom in "Hey Mama." Kanye rapped the song all the way through, keeping his eyes closed through most of it.

Donda was a crucial part of Kanye's life until she passed away in 2007 due to complications from a surgery she'd undergone at the time. It left Kanye an emotional wreck for years to come -- and her death even served as a catalyst for his mental breakdown in 2016.

Of course, Kanye and Kim have had multiple children of their own in the years since ... and just welcomed their fourth kid -- a boy -- last week via surrogate.

Joyner Lucas is ripping the Catholic church for coming out against his controversial music video shot inside a place of worship ... he says they knew what they were getting into, and they profited.

We got the rapper coming out of the Montage Hotel in Bev Hills and asked if he was going to apologize for swearing and chugging booze inside St. Peter's Catholic Church in Worcester, Mass.

Joyner says HELL NO ... he doesn't regret anything because everyone was on the same page from the jump, and the church willingly took his money knowing full well what was about to go down.

Cursing and drinking aren't the only things the church is condemning now ... Joyner's music video also places pictures of President Trump and conservative commentators Laura Ingraham and Tomi Lahren above caskets, while he asks God why Nipsey Hussle, Michael Jackson, Selena, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G. and so many others died young.

The Catholic League had a big problem with that imagery, and they're even bashing Rihanna for sharing the vid ... but Joyner tells us he's not calling for anyone's death and takes issue with his First Amendment rights being trampled when Trump and others spew controversial takes themselves.

It's time for Kanye to give his music 100% to the lord ... that's according to Brandon Jennings, who says Kanye's Sunday Services are SO GOOD, that Ye should think about going gospel for real.

If you don't know what Sunday Services are we'll tell you ... it's where Kanye invites a bunch of famous people to Calabasas for an inspirational praise and worship session ... on Sunday.

It's not exactly church, but when we got Jennings out in L.A. he told us he's been, and it's AMAZING.

"If you love music, go to Kanye's service on Sunday ... for me I love music and it's positive and I see a lot of families there."

Must be really life-changing, 'cause Jennings thinks Kanye should turn in his keyboard for an organ, at least for one record.

"I think he should put out a gospel album, he'll definitely win a Grammy for that."

Kanye's done the gospel thing before -- remember "Jesus Walks?" -- so it's not out of the question.

Sin City found God on Friday ... 'cause a Las Vegas Golden Knights fan delivered a custom jersey to Pope Francis -- and the holiest guy on earth LOVED it!!!

Unclear why a man came to the Vatican bearing the NHL gift ... but when he did -- and the pictures became public -- the Knights were thrilled, tweeting of the moment, "OMG!"

The jersey is awesome ... it's a custom sweater featuring the name "Pope Francis" on the back.

Of course, the Knights are officially done this season -- the Sharks took care of them in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a super controversial, down-to-the-wire game 7 finish.

Chris Brown got wrapped into some bad juju after cops say a woman trekked across the country trying to get him to remove a curse she believed CB inflicted on her son.

Cops responded to a call Saturday night reporting a strange woman with a preteen who was seen wandering around Chris' L.A.-area property ... throwing a bible over his wall, no less.

Officers responded, and they got quite the tale from the woman. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... she said she had flown into town from Texas that day with her boy -- all in the hopes of convincing Chris to lift some voodoo. We're told she felt the presence of a bible on his lawn would help lift the curse.

As for why she thought all of this -- pretty clearly, cops figured she might have mental health issues. She was taken in for evaluation, and her son was taken into protective custody.

Chris wasn't directly involved in the incident ... he wasn't home at the time.

We know Chris luckily dodged the encounter because he was partying it up with Jake Paul, Lamar Odom and a bunch of his celeb pals in Calabasas on Saturday night for Desiigner's 22nd birthday.

"What better place for a Jewish quarterback to be than in Miami!?"

That was Jay Fiedler's reaction to the Miami Dolphins bringing on Josh Rosen -- and Feidler would know, he's Jewish too!!!

In fact, Fiedler -- a 2002 inductee to the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame -- was the last Miami Dolphins QB to lead the team to a playoff victory back in 2000.

So, with Rosen now in South Beach ... we hit up Fiedler to see if he had advice for his Hebrew brethren.

"The Jewish community down there will love him," Fiedler says ... "And, he'll probably get invited to quite a few Bar Mitzvahs along the way!!!"

In all seriousness, Fiedler thinks Rosen is a great addition to the Fins -- and says having a respected veteran like Ryan Fitzpatrick in the QB room will be HUGE for the young guy from UCLA.

Fiedler also dishes out some advice for Rosen ... and Josh should listen.

By the way, the Dolphins last playoff win was in 2000 ... when Fiedler led his squad over Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts in the wild card round!!!

Since then, the Dolphins were QB'd by guys like Daunte Culpepper, Trent Green, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne, Ryan Tannehill and Jay Cutler.

But, none of those guys were able to put a W on the books in playoff time.

Jordyn Woods and her mom, Elizabeth, stopped dead in their tracks with the question ... what's the silver lining over the whole Tristan/Khloe/Kylie mess?

We got the mother/daughter team Friday at LAX, and you can see Jordyn process the question and it's almost like she wants to answer but thinks the safest way to go is silence.

Momager Elizabeth is chattier ... heaping praise on Kris Jenner, proclaiming love for everyone and then addressing the silver lining question. Sounds like she's saying it gave them a greater connection to God.

The Kardashians have not budged after what they view is a deal-breaking betrayal.

Building Kanye West's man-made mountain for his Sunday Service at Coachella was no easy feat ... as evidenced by the MASSIVE army putting in work in this awesome time-lapse vid.

As we first reported ... more than 50k people attended Ye's service last weekend in the Coachella campground. The event lasted a couple of hours and it brought out some heavy hitters ... from the Kardashian family to Chance the Rapper, Donald Glover, Kid Cudi and more.

But, leading up to the massive event was Kanye's main designer's company at work. John McGuire owns TrasK House, which worked around the clock to build the man-made mountain. You can see in this incredible time-lapse video, tons of workers hauling equipment to complete Kanye's raised alter.

You see tractors pushing dirt like crazy to build the mountain ... followed by a crew laying out the sod to complete the magnificent look.

As you know by now ... Kanye and his choir performed numerous Gospel songs and he also debuted a new track called "Water" and played classics like "Jesus Walks."

The numbers for Kanye West's Sunday Service are officially in ... and an astounding 50,000 festival-goers woke up early to go and watch the ceremony.

Coachella production sources tell TMZ organizers just tallied everyone who attended ... and it more than surpassed expectations. We're told over 50k were there ... with an A-list guest list that included the entire Kardashian family, Chance The Rapper, Donald Glover, Lizzo, Kid Cudi, DMX and more.

Kanye's Sunday Service started right around 9 AM on a massive man-made mountain in the Coachella campground and lasted for a couple of hours.

Not only did Kanye and his choir perform numerous Gospel songs, he also debuted a new track called "Water" and played classics like "Jesus Walks."

The event -- a culmination of Sunday Service performances from the past several weeks -- stole the show this weekend ... and reviews have been insanely positive.

In a touching moment at the end of the show, Kanye was seen hugging Marcus Hyde, the family's former photographer who nearly lost his life in a horrible car accident last year, as well as his mother.

4:05 PM PT -- We got the full rundown of all the big names at the Service, and the list is massive. Along with those already mentioned ... Justin and Hailey Bieber, Lil Pump, Willow and Jaden Smith, 2 Chainz, Tame Impala, Donald Glover, Kid Cudi, Jerrod Carmichael, Jermaine Dupri and Idris Elba were all in attendance.

Marcus Hyde, Kim and Kanye's photog who was seriously injured in a car crash in October, was also there.

11:50 AM PT -- Kanye's Service has wrapped up ... after an upbeat and emotional couple hours with a lot of help from his friends.

The final hour featured DMX giving a prayer, Chance the Rapper performing "Ultralight Beam" and a huge rendition of "Jesus Walks." At one point it looked like several members of the choir, including Kanye, were moved to tears.

Kylie and Travis were apparently feeling it too ... and were moved to a little PDA. Happy Easter, everybody!

11:05 AM PT -- Though the Service kicked off at 9 AM, Kanye wasn't revealed on Coachella's fisheye lens stream 'til about 9:50, and he didn't get on the mic for another hour after that ... when he performed "All Falls Down." He followed it up by premiering his new song, "Water," with Ty Dolla $ign.

He's also rocking purple hair.

Not that Ye hasn't been busy the whole time -- he's been dancing, playing piano and directing the choir ... while tens of thousands of festival attendees gather around. The show is still going too.

Other highlights so far include the choir and band performing "Beautiful Morning," "Power," "Blood on the Leaves" and Stevie Wonder's "As." Teyana Taylor and Chance the Rapper also performed, and celebs spotted in the crowd include Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, Kendall, Kylie and Travis Scott, and La La Anthony.

Kanye West is ready to preach his version of the gospel for all the folks at Coachella ... and TMZ will be streaming live when it begins at around 9 AM PT.

Ye will host his Sunday Service, which has become a thing in L.A., attracting lots of celebs. It's more music than preaching, which may be a reason why some not-so-religious people have become believers. Kim Kardashian West was getting the family ready to attend bright and early.

A brand new stage was set up in the campground for Ye, and everyone with a wristband is welcome.

The Sunday Service will feature a massive choir, orchestra and, we're told, other surprises. In weeks past he's performed both gospel songs as well as some of his hit songs.

During a recent service ... Kanye paid homage to Nipsey Hussle by playing audio of Nipsey delivering inspirational thoughts. It was one hell of a show.

Robert Mueller seems like he's said all he's going to say about his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election for now ... if you want more, there's 448 pages in his report to dig through.

We got the Special Counsel leaving St. John's Episcopal Church Sunday morning in D.C. -- right across the street from the White House -- after attending an Easter service with his wife.

Bob was tight-lipped as he got in his car to leave ... not even telling us if he's planning to take a vacation now that the Mueller Report's been released.

Another reporter was on the scene too ... but didn't appear to have any luck either.

As you know, reaction to the report has been a mixed bag -- many believe President Trump should be impeached over details in the report, while the Prez declared total victory ... using "Game of Thrones" as inspiration.

Turns out, Carl Lentz -- the pastor at Hillsong church who's tight with Justin Bieber and Kevin Durant -- is a sneakerhead who splurges ... but responsibly, he says.

We got Carl Monday at LAX and had to first ask him about the sick sneakers we spotted him wearing ... a pair of Air Jordan XXXIII SE shoes that begged the question -- is it okay for men and women of the cloth to splurge on expensive stuff?

He admits the optics ain't necessarily great when, say, a pastor tells his congregation he needs a private jet (true story) or when pastors wear shoes worth thousands. There's even an Instagram account @preachersnsneakers that documents such spending.

Carl says, like all pastors, he draws a salary and what he chooses to buy with his money is his business -- within reason, of course. He also encourages lay people to ask questions if something looks fishy.

That being said ... Carl's got a favorite pair of kicks in his closet, and spilled the beans to us. Hint: they've got King written all over them, and could go for thousands, although CL says he got in on the ground floor.