Religion/ Spirituality

Joel Osteen ain't lying about not being able to open his megachurch earlier to Houston flood victims ... this according to the gospel star who worked with Joel for years.

We got Grammy winner Israel Houghton Tuesday night at Catch and asked what he made of the backlash Joel's been catching for turning away flood evacuees on Monday, before finally opening Lakewood Church on Tuesday.

Israel was a church member and performed there for 15 years -- and assured us he knows the "real deal" ... as he backed up Joel's word that the church was too flooded.

Phaedra Parks channeled her inner Whoopi Goldberg and rocked her little heart out in the house of worship.

The 'RHOA' star hit up the Atlanta Dream Center for a Friday night service that also doubled as the album release party for her friend and gospel singer, Tasha Cobbs Leonard ... who, btw, is taking heat from the gospel community for featuring Nicki Minaj in one of her tracks.

More than 500 people packed the center, many of whom got down to the holy rhythm. Phaedra was there with friends and is clearly washed over by the Holy Spirit.

Don't fight the feeling ...

Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch is open in Houston ... and refugees are getting an official greeting from a ton of donated items.

Lakewood Church's lobby has been lined by piles of books, towels, toys, diapers, clothing and more ... a stark contrast to what it looked like a mere 24 hours ago.

As we reported, Osteen finally opened the church's doors Tuesday afternoon. Some believed he didn't do so sooner because he didn't want the place to get ruined. The church however blamed the delay on high water surrounding the near 17,000 capacity venue, although a hotel across the street didn't have any problems taking in evacuees.

It's interesting ... while the lobby looks crammed, the church's main hall still looks empty, but we're expecting that will change.

Joel Osteen opted to lock the doors to his megachurch at the same time a neighboring hotel not only stayed open, but filled to capacity ... proving roads in the area were accessible during Hurricane Harvey.

We spoke to someone at the DoubleTree Hotel in Houston -- directly across the highway from Lakewood Church -- and we're told it was half full last Thursday when Harvey started barreling toward H-Town. When Harvey was doing his worst on Saturday, the hotel had swollen to 100% capacity ... 388 rooms booked.

We're told nearby residents easily drove to the DoubleTree through Saturday night. As we reported, Lakewood shut out evacuees, and church officials claimed it was simply inaccessible due to flooded roads.

7:50 AM PT -- Pastor Osteen's church is now open for evacuees, and he says flooding inside the church is the reason for the delay.

A Lakewood Church rep tells us, "Lakewood’s doors are open now to anyone needing shelter. We are also coordinating with the city as a collection site for distributing supplies to area shelters. We are collecting diapers, baby formula, baby food and other supplies. Please bring these items to Lakewood Church, Circle Drive off Timmons St."

The rep also sent us photos of "initial flooding" within the church, and says this is "why we couldn't open initially."

Pastor Joel Osteen is taking serious heat for not turning his Houston megachurch into a shelter for thousands of displaced residents who have no place to go.

The Houston Lakewood Church has a capacity of almost 17,000 but it has not been open to evacuees since the storm hit.

Osteen posted a statement Monday night, saying, "We have never closed our doors ... We will continue to be a distribution center to those in need. We are prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity."

It seems, however, that shelters have more than reached capacity. The American Red Cross turned the Convention Center into an evacuee center and there are 8,800 people there, despite the fact capacity is set at 5,000.

Osteen's church appears to be in good shape and able to serve as a center.

Joel Osteen's 17,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston isn't opening its doors for rescue efforts because floodwaters just won't allow it ... according to the church.

The mega-televangelist is catching flak for tweeting about his hometown flood, but not doing anything to help out -- especially because his megachurch could shelter thousands of people displaced by the rising water.

Church officials say this one's out of Joel's hands though -- and point out the streets surrounding the church are already so flooded ... Lakewood is inaccessible.

The church used to be the Compaq Center sports arena, and sits along a highway ... part of which is currently under water. The floodwater wasn't clear in a photo tweeted Monday morning.

Nev Schulman said it loud and proud ... he's Jewish, and wore the yellow Star of David to the VMAs to make sure his fans know he's standing up against white supremacists.

We got the 'Catfish' host Monday at LAX as he was leaving town after the VMAs, and he explained he wore the symbolic emblem specifically as a response to people marching with Nazi flags ... in America.

Nev said the Holocaust wasn't that long ago, and celebs should wear the Star to remind their fans.

He gave a nod to Billy Joel for doing it recently in concert and encouraged others to follow suit.

Justin Bieber has a couple of balls in the air ... his manager is being courted into politics, and a longtime buddy is now an enemy.

We got Justin leaving church Wednesday and he was mum about our story ... that Scooter Braun is being lobbied by some Cali Democrats to make a run for Governor.

Everyone also wanted to know about a story we broke ... that Floyd Mayweather is incensed that Bieber unfollowed him on Instagram because of some unsavory pics of strippers and such.

The guy with the "Blacks for Trump" t-shirt who sat behind President Trump is so out there ... his former cohorts in a cult, accused of murdering a bunch of people, want nothing to do with him.

Members of the cult Yahweh ben Yahweh were tried for conspiracy to commit murder in the '90s. The guy in the t-shirt, Maurice Symonette, was also charged but was eventually acquitted.

Famed attorney Jayne Weintraub, who repped not only cult leader Hulon Mitchell, Jr. but also Symonette, tells TMZ the cult has absolutely no affiliation with Symonette anymore, nor do they want any.

Weintraub says, "Mr. Symonette's voice is his own personal views and should not be a reflection or associated with the Nation of Yahweh."

Floyd Mayweather Sr. has his son's back in his beef with Justin Bieber -- saying the pop star unfairly kicked Floyd to the curb just because he found God.

As we previously reported, Floyd Jr. is furious with his former friend -- who's been distancing himself after some counseling from his church. Bieber even decided to unfollow Floyd on Instagram as part of a bigger plan to back away from people who don't share the same Christian values.

Enter Floyd Sr. ... who says he doesn't really know if the two will ever be able to bury the hatchet.

He also said Justin needs to be true to himself -- but just because he's a godly man now doesn't mean Floyd has to change.

The message is essentially ... Floyd's still the same guy who had your back in the past -- you shouldn't push him away now.

But will Bieber get an invite to the Mayweather vs. McGregor after-party?

Billy Joel made a bold statement about the times we live in during a show by rocking the yellow Star of David ... this amid neo-Nazi rallies being held across the country.

Billy was performing Monday night at NYC's Madison Square Garden, and he bore a Star of David patch on both the breast of his coat as well as on his back.

He was raised by Jewish parents, and has described himself as culturally Jewish.

The political move comes on the heels of a violent protest in Charlottesville, where one woman was killed by an alleged participant in the neo-Nazi rally ... when hordes of white supremacists and neo-Nazis took to the streets, chanting "Jews will not replace us!"

Jews were forced to wear the Star of David in Nazi-occupied Europe leading up to World War II ... which ultimately led to the extermination of 6 million Jews.

"Wonder Woman" star Eugene Brave Rock says don't fear the natural ... a total solar eclipse is a time for celebration!

Eugene -- who hails from the Blackfoot Indian Tribe and starred as The Chief in the epic DC Comics flick -- says the first total solar eclipse in 38 years is reason to throw a massive party to welcome the mating of the sun and the moon.

Check it out ... Eugene's not speaking for the rest of the nearly 600 Native American tribes, some of which will head indoors for a "time out" -- as in no talking and no eating or drinking.

Chris Pratt is sticking to what he knows in the fallout of his separation from estranged wife Anna Faris ... and that involves family and faith.

Chris was out Sunday taking his 4-year-old son, Jack, to Church in L.A. -- with Anna nowhere in sight. It appears to be the first time he's been seen public since his split from Anna last weekend ... when the ex-couple announced they were separating on social media.

We broke the story ... Chris and Anna are parting ways because of differences in their vision on family and work -- she wants to have more kids and to settle down in L.A., while Chris doesn't want to do either considering his movie career is just now taking off.

Still ... Chris seems to be trying to keep things normal between he and his boy. As normal as they can be without mom, anyway. Also, check out his ring finger ... stripped.

Justin Bieber reaffirmed his faith Saturday in WeHo at a church event.

The Biebs hit up the Zoe Church Conference at The Wiltern Theatre. TMZ broke the story, Bieber cancelled the rest of his "Purpose" tour to work on his faith. He's been surrounded by pastors for months now ... notably Carl Lentz and Rich Wilkerson.

Saturday would have been Bieber's Rose Bowl performance, but that along with other concert dates is a thing of the past.

Justin Bieber seems to be reaffirming his dedication to Christ by showing off one of his more recent tattoos -- one that proves his eye is on the prize.

Justin posted an extreme close-up of this tiny tatt of a cross next to his left eye. True Beliebers first spotted it a few months ago, but the fact he's highlighting it now is strong evidence the Biebs is fully committed.

We broke the story, Justin canceled his Purpose tour last week to rededicate himself to his religion.

We'd never proclaim to know what Jesus would do, but WWBD? It frequently involves tattoos.