Religion/ Spirituality

Beyonce is in her hurricane-ravaged hometown, doing what she does best -- giving an inspiring performance.

Bey, her mom Tina, and daughter Blue Ivy visited St. John's Church in Houston Friday and gave a moving speech to Hurricane Harvey victims. She told the congregation the church has been her home since she first attended when she was a kid.

Beyonce made it clear -- they were there to celebrate survival and turn the page on the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Harvey.

The Robert E. Lee descendant, who denounced white supremacy during the VMAs, says that speech cost him his job as pastor of a North Carolina church.

Rev. Robert Wright Lee says factions of his United Church of Christ in Winston-Salem "were concerned about my speech and that I lifted up Black Lives Matter movement, the Women’s March, and Heather Heyer as examples of racial justice work."

Rev. Lee says there were also church members who supported his right to speak out, but were "uncomfortable with the attention" his MTV appearance was bringing the church. He says, "The church’s reaction was deeply hurtful to me."

Joel Osteen was back to preaching the word of God Sunday after belatedly opening his megachurch to victims of Harvey flooding ... but not before clearing his name (again).

Joel's Sunday service at Lakewood Church -- the first since massive flooding in Houston and backlash he received for how he handled it -- was packed with thousands of worshipers, with the pastor taking a moment to re-explain the delay in opening his doors to evacuees.

As we reported ... Joel claims his megachurch was always open to the public, despite videos and eyewitnesses saying otherwise. He blamed internal flooding for the delay, and said a security company might've been responsible for turning people away.

After addressing the controversy, Osteen went on to say Harvey was part of a divine plan, with things like ... "God knew that Houston could handle the hurricane," and "Quit being upset by something you can handle," He added, "God is in control of the universe and what he has spoken over your life will come to pass."

We'll let Joel speak for himself here.

Pastor Joel Osteen says his church was unfairly criticized for locking its doors to Hurricane Harvey evacuees.

The man who leads the Lakewood Church in Houston says the doors were always open, despite the video TMZ posted which was shot Monday ... showing the church was accessible yet the doors were locked.

Osteen says it was a confusing time and says if people were turned away it may have been the fault of a security company.

At any rate, the doors are now open, Osteen says the church is in it for the long haul and hundreds of people are now calling his place of worship a temporary home.

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.