Religion/ Spirituality

Tommy 'Tiny' Lister's condition in the days before his demise was alarming -- but the guy was confident he'd be taken care of by the man upstairs.

Actor/rapper Chris La Vrar tells TMZ ... he was with Tiny Monday at the 'Friday' star's Marina del Rey home, where Tiny was recording a live stream video session with fans and fielding questions for a Q&A. Part of the convo was posted on social media -- and while you can see Tiny was not well here ... Chris says it was much worse up close in-person.

In the video, you see Tiny struggling to speak and breathe ... much like he had during his interview with Brandon Jay. Only difference here is that Tiny kinda nods off at various points, and his energy and focus are low compared to the rest of the chat room.

Good sport that he was, he did his best to engage with fans as best he could -- but Chris tells us that behind the scenes ... Tiny was startling him. He says the man was coughing nonstop, and when Chris asked if he was okay, 'Tiny' told him he was fine.

We're told Chris pressed to see if he felt like he needed to go to a doctor -- as Chris believed he did -- and Tiny responded ... "No, God's got me." Chris let it go.

BTW, as we reported, Tiny apparently contracted COVID 4 months ago, like many suspected -- Chris tells us it was confirmed, but Tiny believed he'd beaten it and gotten past the symptoms. As we can now see, that was not the case. After hanging out with Tiny for a couple hours and subsequently learning of his death days later -- we're told Chris is now concerned he might have COVID and plans to get tested ASAP.

Elizabeth Taylor didn't make the cut in "The Chanukah Song," but she famously converted to Judaism in 1959, and now ... a couple mementos of her faith are hitting the auction block.

Two menorahs belonging to the iconic "Cleopatra" star will be on display for the upcoming Jewish celebration at the J Greenstein Gallery in New York ... then will go up for grabs in January.

We're told the menorahs were originally purchased after her death at the Julien's of Hollywood estate sale when they sold her property.

The larger one is expected to fetch $15,000 - $20,000 at the auction, with the smaller one expected to go for up to $8k.

If you aren't aware ... Taylor was one of the biggest movie stars in the world when she converted, and not just because she married a Jewish man. She was reportedly very devoted to her faith for decades until she passed in 2011.

She wasn't the only celeb at the time to famously become Jewish either -- Marilyn Monroe and Sammy Davis Jr. did as well.

Here's video which Jake Paul says PROVES he really did suffer a broken nose 3 weeks before the Nate Robinson fight ... and yeah, he looks pretty busted up.

The footage shows Paul in what appears to be a hospital exactly 20 days before the Nov. 28 fight -- bleeding from the bridge of his nose with electrodes on his chest.

Paul also posted a pic of the scar after he was cleaned up.

The 23-year-old says he sustained the injury while meditating -- "I passed out on the concrete" -- and it posed a real threat to his training in those pivotal weeks before the match.

Paul says he couldn't spar for several days -- which is a big deal going into a fight. In fact, Paul says his whole training camp came to a screeching halt for a moment.

But, Paul persevered and dominated in his fight with the ex-NBA player -- ultimately securing a violent KO in the 2nd round.

As for Jake's nose, it didn't look like Nate connected one flush shot to Paul's face during the fight.

Now, Paul says he's looking forward to his next opponent -- which he HOPES is either Conor McGregor or Dillon Danis.

Pope Francis just compared abortion to hiring a hitman ... because he says both acts are designed to get rid of a problem.

The Pope made his comment to Argentinian women who oppose a new, proposed law that would decriminalize abortion. The Argentinian President vowed to sign a law that would make abortion "legal, safe and free" for all citizens.

The Pontiff said abortion was just like "hiring a killer to solve a problem."

Pope Francis, who is from Argentina, told opponents of the bill, "The country is proud to have women like you."

Francis did say as far as he's concerned, women who have had abortions can seek forgiveness and their priests will "absolve them."

The Grammys are going to look very different next year, and not just because of the pandemic ... Kanye's making a big move and Alex Trebek's in the fold.

Nominations for the 2021 Grammys are out, and there's lots of interesting changes to digest. Trevor Noah's hosting and he might have some fun with this -- Kanye is now officially considered a Christian artist.

Yeezy's "Jesus Is King" is up for best contemporary Christian music album ... it's the next stage in Kanye's transformation, which traces roots back to his Sunday Service.

Trebek's also got a shot at posthumous glory ... the late "Jeopardy!" host and TV icon's audiobook is nominated for best spoken word album. Ken Jennings helped Alex narrate the memoir, and would accept the award if the 'Jeopardy' duo wins.

One celeb who won't be taking home any hardware -- The Weeknd. He's shockingly snubbed even though his single, "Blinding Lights," topped the charts and his album, "After Hours," rose to #1.

Guess The Weeknd will have to settle for performing the Super Bowl halftime show a week after the Grammys.

Pope Francis has invited 5 NBA players to his home court -- The Vatican -- for a 1-hour meeting Monday about social justice issues.

The 5-player delegation features Sterling Brown -- the former Milwaukee Bucks star who was the victim of a police brutality incident in 2018 when he was tased by cops at a Walgreens.

The other players ... Kyle Korver, Orlando's Jonathan Isaac, Marco Belinelli and Anthony Tolliver.

Both Brown and Korver were members of the Bucks in the NBA Bubble this year when they boycotted a playoff game to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. Brown is now a member of the Houston Rockets.

23-year-old Jonathan Isaac was one of the only players to stand during the national anthem during their Bubble. He's also an ordained minister.

Unclear exactly what the players and The Pope will talk about -- but it was reportedly Pope Francis who had a rep reach out to the NBA Players Association to get the ball rolling

Pope Francis reportedly "wanted to learn more about how players had recently brought attention to pressing social justice issues and economic inequality -- and what they planned for the future," according to ESPN.

After the meeting -- which took place in the papal library at the Apostolic Palace -- the players were scheduled to get a tour of St. Peter's Square.

Toccara Jones has no problem with Pope Francis double-tapping a pic of a bootylicious model -- allegedly -- and thinks all clergy should be free to explore their feelings ... like a certain rapper.

The former "America's Next Top Model" star had a good time with us poking fun at the Pope over his official Instagram account appearing to 'like' model Natalia Garibotto's racy photo.

Toccara thinks the Supreme Pontiff was liking a lot more than Natalia's Catholic school-themed attire ... she says he was down with the thiccness.

In that way, the popular plus-sized model tells us His Holiness has a lot in common with Drake ... who's also known to go double-tapping on big booties.

Chris Pratt is getting support from celebs who are incensed he's getting dragged on social media because he's conservative and religious, and the latest to chime in is his bro-in-law.

Patrick Schwarzenegger told Variety he was disgusted with Internet trolls labeling him "the worst Hollywood Chris."

Arnold's kid called the moniker "sad," adding, "Twitter is a junkyard right?" He went on to say, "People are so focused on putting other people down to make themselves feel better."

The Twitter smack talk started gaining steam last month. Chris' wife, Katherine, said, "There's so much going on in the world and people are struggling in so many ways ... Being mean is so yesterday. There's enough room to love all these guys.  Love is what we all need not meanness and bullying."

But remember, the big gun came out in the form of Robert Downey, Jr., who ripped into the trolls, saying, "What a world ... The 'sinless' are casting stones at my brother, Chris Pratt ... A real Christian who lives by principle, has never demonstrated anything but positivity and gratitude ... AND he just married into a family that makes space for civil discourse and (just plain fact) INSISTS on service as the highest value."

And, then the knockout blow ... "If you take issue with Chris ... I've got a novel idea. Delete your social media accounts, sit with your OWN defects of character, work on THEM, then celebrate your humanness."

Carl Lentz -- best known as Justin Bieber's former pastor and mentor -- says his church booted him because he cheated on his wife.

A day after the Hillsong East Coast church announced they'd fired Pastor Lentz over "leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures," Carl revealed those failures included infidelity.

Lentz says ... "I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions."

The pastor says he's deeply sorry, admits he failed to live up to the standard of a church leader and understands a change needed to be made because of his actions.

Lentz says he's now on a journey of rebuilding his relationship and trust with his wife, Laura, and their kids ... and shared a family photo at a formal event.

Lentz is famous, of course, because of his close relationship with Bieber ... there's a Hillsong church in L.A. too. Lentz and JB were inseparable for years and the singer considered him a friend and spiritual mentor ... at least up until mid-2018.

As we reported ... they had a major falling out around then, and it was contentious enough that Carl had trouble spitting out a congratulations to Justin when he got engaged to Hailey Baldwin.

The Biebs has continued to attend Hillsong on the west coast, but he and Carl were clearly no longer buddies as the pastor continued to lead the Hillsong NYC location.

An online design store is accused of selling several grossly anti-Semitic products featuring Hitler made to look like Colonel Sanders with the logo for KFJ -- Kentucky Fried Jews.

The offensive images hit social media Thursday, purportedly showing items for sale on bapup.com -- including cell phone cases, face masks, neckties, umbrellas and more. However, late Thursday night the online store was seemingly shut down.

The site now has a message saying ... "Due to an ongoing internal investigation of our designer activities and an upgrade to our database system, our site is temporarily unavailable."

Many people online claim they contacted the site about the offensive content, while others went to the site's hosting company, GoDaddy, to report it as well.

Jerry Falwell Jr. says it's bad enough he was the victim of an extortion plot over a phony sex scandal, but then the university his own father founded gave him the boot over the matter ... according to a new lawsuit.

Falwell Jr. filed legal docs accusing Liberty University -- founded by his father in 1971 -- of forcing his resignation in the wake of a former acquaintance, Giancarlo Granda, alleging he had sex with Falwell's wife as Falwell watched.

In the suit, Falwell says he and his family became the targets of a malicious smear campaign incited by anti-evangelical forces ... after Liberty University used the allegations as an excuse to force him to step down.

Falwell even claims these were efforts by political operatives pissed about his support of President Trump.

Granda told Reuters back in August the affair with Falwell's wife started in 2012 and lasted until 2018. In docs, Falwell admits Granda had an affair with his wife that ended in 2014, but denies watching them for pleasure. He also claims Granda demanded enormous cash payments from the Falwells to stay silent. Falwell says he refused to pay, and that's when he claims Granda went to the media.

Falwell claims Liberty University accepted the salacious and baseless accusations against him and his wife at face value and then a day later forced his resignation as president after 13 years at the helm. He insists the school didn't conduct an investigation.

"Every night I go to sleep I'm like, 'Lord, please, let me like wake up in the morning feeling good.'"

That's Saints star Emmanuel Sanders admitting he's scared to death of his COVID-19 diagnosis ... saying he's extremely worried his condition could deteriorate at any moment.

"Like, I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and like, can’t breathe," Sanders said on the "17 Weeks" podcast this week. "And like, sh*t just goes south, right?"

"That’s like my biggest fear in watching that sh*t, it intensifies my fears, right?"

Sanders tested positive for coronavirus last Thursday ... and says he's been experiencing some pretty bad symptoms ever since, including fever, body aches and "loopy feelings."

The 33-year-old says his wife also came down with the illness ... explaining she, too, is feeling the effects.

"Like, it feels like we’re glitchy," the NFL receiver said. "Like when I’m walking it feels like if my wife was to talk to me, it feels like I’m skipping a beat every now and then."

"It's like the weirdest sh*t ever."

The Saints placed Sanders on the reserve/COVID-19 list and he missed last week's win over the Panthers. He's already been ruled out of this week's game against the Bears.

President Trump became part of the church-going crowd this weekend -- and his presence moved a pastor to predict he'd get a 2nd win ... and Trump returned the favor by telling the pastors they were rough around the edges.

DT attended a service Sunday at the International Church of Las Vegas ... with Pastors Paul and Denise Goulet officiated. It was quite the sight -- Trump stood there awkwardly with his palms out, flanked by Hope Hicks and Kayleigh McEnany ... nobody wearing masks.

Right up Donald's alley, no doubt, but it's what Pastor Denise ranted and raved about that actually stole the show ... she says she got a sign from God at 4:30 this morning ... that Trump's getting another 4 years, but she had a funny and confusing way of explaining it.

First, she said his "second win" would come in the form of a victory at the polls; next, she said he'd get another "second win" with a fresh shot of energy ... like a runner near the finish line and who's out of breath, but still manages to power through to the end.

Finally, Pastor Denise said he'd get a second "wind," which she likened to the Holy Spirit. We believe she has a few of those "second win(d)s" mixed up, but whatever ... Trump was loving it all the same. Ironically, Trump has proven of late that he can, indeed, get pretty winded.

Anyway, the couple eventually invited to him to the stage to bless him -- which was just as awkward as their sermon from afar -- and eventually handed him the mic to share some words, and that's when he told the pastoral duo they were rough around the edges.

Someone called the cops on Jesus ... because he was depicted as a homeless man sleeping on an Ohio park bench.

A statue called "Homeless Jesus" is being hosted by the St. Barnabas Episcopal Church near Cleveland to raise awareness of homelessness in the city, and apparently it worked ... because someone reported it right away.

Alex Martin, a priest at the church, says within 20 minutes of the statue being delivered earlier this week, he had to talk with a police officer ... because someone thought it was a real person.

The church says the response to the statue -- which is intended to inspire citizens to take action and help tackle the homelessness crisis -- "speaks to its power."

St. Barnabas adds ... "The caller surely contacted the police out of genuine concern and the responding officer was excellent: he was extremely professional and eager to learn more about the sculpture and its intended message."

President Trump is giving it up to Jesus Christ ... acknowledging the Christian messiah is more famous than he is. Wow, quite a concession!

The President's campaigning in Greenville, North Carolina, and while addressing supporters he brought up the topic of his fame and where he ranks. He claimed someone told him he's the most famous person in the world "by far."

Trump -- ever the humble servant -- says he insisted he's not ... because that title belongs to J.C. The pandering worked, as the crowd ate up Trump's remark and POTUS reveled in it.

His Christian anecdote is reminiscent of John Lennon saying, in 1966, the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." It was intended as a shot at the obsession fans and the media had with the group, but religious groups blasted him for it.

Trump didn't wanna go down that road, and quipped he can't argue with Christ being #1 because he's "not gonna take any chances."

Trump's claimed many times to be a devout Christian and that his favorite book of all time is the Bible ... so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he holds Jesus in such high regard.

Of course, if someone were to ask the President what his favorite story about Jesus is -- or even which testament of the Bible is his fave -- there's a good chance he'd punt on the question.

A Holocaust survivor speaking with Sacha Baron Cohen for his new 'Borat' movie was callously duped, because she thought he was making a legit documentary ... so claims her estate in a new lawsuit.

The estate of Judith Dim Evans -- who, according to the legal docs, is a "well-known speaker and expert regarding the Holocaust" -- is going after the makers of the upcoming 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' for allegedly tricking her into doing an interview around the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020.

According to the suit ... Evans was contacted by producers under false pretenses and believed she was participating in a documentary about the Holocaust and Jewish culture.

Her estate says she traveled to Atlanta with a friend to be interviewed by Cohen and was never informed the movie was a comedy  -- a 'Borat' sequel -- and when she found out she was "horrified and upset."

Evans' estate alleges she never would have agreed to the interview if she knew the true nature of the film was to mock the Holocaust and Jewish culture, and she never consented for her name and likeness to be in such a movie.

The estate also claims the producers offered to pay Evans and her friend for their participation, but she turned them down flat.

Evans died this past summer, so her daughter -- the executrix of her estate -- filed the suit against Amazon and Oak Springs Productions ... seeking to have her mother's clips yanked from the final cut of the movie and other damages.

The 'Borat' sequel is set to release on Amazon Prime next week. Though Cohen is not named as a defendant in this suit, he's no stranger to being sued over his projects ... he's still in a legal battle with Roy Moore.