Religion/ Spirituality

Gennady Golovkin won't guarantee he's gonna kick Canelo Alvarez's ass when they step in the squared circle Saturday night ... 'cause he ain't God.

TMZ Sports talked to GGG and C.A. leading up to their superfight this week in Las Vegas ... and asked each boxer how they visualized themselves winning the bout.

Alvarez said he was preparing for a KO ... while Golovkin's response was interesting.

"Right now it's a 50/50 fight. It's a very dangerous fight. I'm not God."

Justin Bieber did not reach out to Selena Gomez to comfort her as she underwent kidney transplant surgery ... because he had no idea it was happening.

Separate Justin and Selena sources tell us Selena did not share the news with Justin because they have had no connection or contact in a long time.

As you know, they're members of the same church -- Hillsong -- but they never interact with each other. We're told the church has actually facilitated keeping them separate.

As one source flatly put it, "They don't talk. Period." It's unclear if Justin and Selena feel this way, but people around them are annoyed the public thinks there's still a connection between the 2. One source says, "It was a childhood thing. They've both had other relationships. It's over."

Darryl Strawberry says there's only one thing that saved him from the despair of drug addiction ... God ... telling TMZ Sports it was the man upstairs who was finally able to pull him from his habit.

We got Straw out in NYC and asked him what finally helped him kick the notorious cocaine addiction that derailed his MLB career, and the World Series champion's answer was simple.

"My faith, my faith in God, and my wife, Tracy."

Straw chronicles his struggles kicking the white stuff in his new book "Don’t Give Up on Me: Shedding Light on Addiction," but it's clear the former All-Star has his head on straight now.

Selena Gomez was scared, as anyone would be, as she dealt with failing kidneys and Lupus, but her faith in God is what gave her the strength to handle it ... sources close to the singer tell TMZ.

Our sources say God has become the most important thing in Selena's life, and as scared as she was, she was resigned to the fact that her fate was in God's hands.

Selena, we're told, prayed a lot but also knew she had the power to heal herself by aggressively seeking a transplant. As we reported, Selena was on a kidney transplant list and ultimately received the life-saving organ from her best friend, Francia Raisa.

Pope Francis needs prayer, and a bag of ice.

The Pontiff could have used a little divine intervention before banging his head on his Popemobile.

One minute he was Popin' it up with the masses, and the next he took one to the eye.

The good news ... he got up and kept doing his Pope thing.

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.