Religion/ Spirituality

As the search for Nancy Guthrie continues, her church delivered a powerful and emotional message not just for her safety, but for the conscience of those who may be responsible for her abduction.

During Sunday's service, Pastor John Tittle of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church told the congregation they had been given one clear request from the Guthrie family ... pray.

"We are seeking to just honor the family's privacy and their desires," Tittle said. "It was communicated to me, 'pray.' We’re going to keep praying through this horrific ordeal."

Tittle led the church in prayer, asking God to protect the 84-year-old, allow her to feel the love surrounding her, and guide authorities in their search. But he also included a pointed plea asking that the hearts of "those who are responsible" be softened so they may do what is "humane and right."

Kanye West's most recent apology for his antisemitism is falling flat ... at least as far as Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is concerned.

Rabbi Shmuley, an influential American rabbi and TV personality, took a blowtorch to the full-page ad Ye took out in The Wall Street Journal apologizing to "Those I've Hurt."

Ye, in part, blamed a car crash that nearly killed him 25 years ago for his hate speech ... but the rabbi says Kanye is far from the first person to blame a blow to the head on antisemitism. Then he doubled down and insisted his apology is not a P.R. stunt ahead of his album release Friday ... Boteach is calling B.S.

That photo of Harry Styles lurking at the Pope Leo XIV announcement last May had the internet spiraling ... was he finding religion -- or just lost? Turns out, neither!

Harry jumped on BBC Radio Friday and finally spilled the sacred truth -- and it all started in a barber chair ... he said he was five minutes from the Vatican, mid-haircut, when people suddenly started screaming, sprinting, and losing their minds outside.

Even his barber was freaking out ... but finished the cut first. Respect! But once the scissors stopped, Harry wandered over to St. Peter’s Square to see who was pulling this kind of crowd. And boom, someone snapped a pic of him, which made its way online in seconds! And somehow ... he was wearing a hat in the photo ... 🤔

At the time, fans were tearing the pic apart -- wondering if Harry had gone full religion, while others clocked he was facing away from the crowd, looking like he was plotting a smooth escape.

11:40 AM PT -- Don Lemon posted a statement from his attorney, Abbe Lowell, on his official IG account Thursday after the judge rejected the DOJ's attempt to charge him … noting journalists' First Amendment rights were properly reinforced by the federal judge.

The statement concludes … "Should the Department of Justice continue with a stunning and troubling effort to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job, Don will call out their latest attack on the rule of law and fight any charges vigorously and thoroughly in court."

Don Lemon looks like he's off the hook in Minnesota ... because a judge reportedly swatted away the U.S. Department of Justice's first attempt to charge him with a crime over an anti-ICE protest that tore through a church service.

CNN reports a federal magistrate judge rejected the DOJ's bid to bring charges against the former CNN host, who reported live from Sunday's protest at Cities Church in St. Paul.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is in meeting with federal prosecutors in Minnesota, is reportedly "enraged" at the judge's decision.

A lawyer and activist who allegedly helped organize a protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this week has been arrested.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Nekima Levy Armstrong was taken into custody at her direction Thursday morning, writing in a social media post ... "Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP."

Bondi said Chauntyll Louisa Allen was also arrested.

Local and federal authorities are investigating after a group of anti-ICE protesters crashed a Minnesota church service ... and one of the demonstrators tells TMZ she'd still do it all over again.

Here's the deal ... the DOJ and local police are investigating after protesters interrupted a service at the Cities Church in St. Paul ... which is getting major headlines because Don Lemon was in the mix live-streaming the incident.

Chauntyll Allen, leader of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, who was among the group, tells TMZ … the jarring protest inside the church was necessary to make clear to the parishioners that having a pastor who is also an ICE official is unacceptable.

Don Lemon is apparently in the DOJ's crosshairs after he was covering a group of ICE protesters who interrupted a church service in Minnesota's Twin Cities ... and at least one parishioner wants them all charged.

Here's the deal ... The former CNN host -- now an independent journalist -- live-streamed from Cities Church in St. Paul, MN, where a bunch of demonstrators interrupted the Sunday service to protest the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the state. One of the pastors is allegedly an ICE official.

Cities Church parishioner Caleb Phillips tells TMZ … the protesters rocked the church and scared the hell out of a lot of good people … but ultimately, they accomplished nothing.

1:27 PM PT -- The Miami nightclub, Vendôme, has announced that three employees have been terminated following an internal review. The venue also says it has “permanently banned the individuals involved in this incident from the Vendôme premises,” though members of the group -- including Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes -- are not named directly.

The nightclub adds that it has implemented new protocols and policies to ensure a similar incident does not occur again.

Andrew and Tristan Tate are distancing themselves from backlash after they were seen partying while Kanye West’s song “Heil Hitler” played ... making it clear they were not singing along, and they're denouncing antisemitism.

ICYMI ... the influencer bros were seen alongside Nick Fuentes, Sneako, Myron Gaines, and Clavicular on a party bus and later at a Miami nightclub as the controversial song blared in the background this weekend -- with members of the group singing along and even flashing Nazi salutes.

While Andrew and Tristan are not seen singing along in the footage, they do appear to be enjoying themselves -- with Tristian even bopping along in the party bus beforehand.

The St. Paul Police Dept. has opened an investigation after anti-ICE protesters crashed a church service ... and Don Lemon may be ensnared.

St. Paul police tell TMZ … the department is actively working the Sunday incident as a disorderly conduct investigation.

Due to the open case, police declined all other questions ... including whether Lemon was exempt from the investigation.

Pastor to the stars John Gray III says a viral Druski skit making fun of megachurch pastors isn't an affront to God ... he says the jokes are hilarious and anyone who doesn't like it needs to do some introspection.

John tells TMZ ... Druski isn't making fun of Jesus Christ or God, he's aiming his jokes at pastors who go way overboard with theatrics and production effects at mega church services.

Pastor Gray says he didn't take offense to anything Druski said or did here ... telling us the people who are offended need to sit down in front of the mirror and think long and hard about their actions.

Stacie Orrico -- a former Christian music singer -- has filed a lawsuit claiming her manager sexually abused her when she was a child, and members of her label did nothing to stop it.

The singer-songwriter filed the lawsuit against her former manager, Britt Ham, and Universal Music Group earlier this week ... alleging Ham began touching her inappropriately when she was just 14 years old.

Orrico says Ham got her alone away from her parents under the guise of daily Bible study ... and impressed upon her the importance of secrecy after he allegedly sexually assaulted her by claiming they needed to protect her Christian image.

Will Father Maximilian Maxwell return to Acrisure Stadium to bless the Steelers in the playoffs? Former Pittsburgh quarterback Charlie Batch believes so ... telling TMZ Sports he hopes the team keeps the faith!!

Batch -- a Steelers backup from the Super Bowl XL and XLIII teams -- watched Father Max use holy water on the field on Sunday ... hours before the Ravens missed a game-winning field goal kick to secure a spot in the postseason.

With how that all ended up, Batch believes Father Max will be back for the Steelers' Wild Card matchup against the Houston Texans on Monday.

"There's a lot of Steelers fans who truly believe there was help above," Batch said.

Melissa Mae Carlton and her family are dealing with an unimaginable loss ... announcing the death of their daughter Molly, less than two years after their daughter Abigail passed away.

The faith and grief influencer announced the heartbreaking news in an Instagram post Friday ... revealing Molly died on Christmas Day -- and adding the family was in total shock and disbelief at her sudden passing.

Carlton notes Molly often expressed a desire to see her older sister again ... which she says gives her a small sense of comfort because they're now reunited in heaven.

Zac Brown haters are hell-bent on convincing people his show's Satanic ... but, the Church of Satan's telling people to slow their roll -- because they know what the Devil's rituals really look like!

Here's the deal ... the singer-songwriter played The Sphere in Las Vegas last weekend, and his set was accompanied by some images that sent the righteous souls on social media clutching their crucifixes.

One image rising over the stage was a skeleton with a huge jagged crown towering high above everything ... its mouth open in a macabre smile as the Zac Brown Band tore up the stage.

The visuals had concerned onlookers screaming "demonic" ... even claiming it was all part of some Satanic ritual ... so, we went to the ultimate authority on the topic -- The Church of Satan itself.

Joe Rogan might have a new career as a preacher lined up ... because he's suggesting Jesus could come back in the form of artificial intelligence.

The podcasting mainstay presented his theory on a recent episode of the "American Alchemy" podcast, and said since Jesus was born to a virgin ... "What's more virgin than a computer?"

Rogan added, if Jesus did come back with the aid of a computer, he could "absolutely" show up as an A.I. program.

It looks like Kim Kardashian got the last laugh in the bidding war over the Bible her late father Robert Kardashian gave O.J. Simpson back in the day ... 'cause it's back in the family!

The Skims founder revealed on this week's "The Kardashians" episode she anonymously bid $80,000 for the Bible her dad gifted to O.J. following the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The Bible was special because it was her dad's personal scripture and had his name etched in gold lettering on the front, plus a handwritten note from him.

We told you all about her first attempt at buying the Bible -- she offered $15,000 to the late O.J.'s estate ... but it rejected the offer. She then spoke about the situation on her family's hit Hulu series and said she would have negotiated further -- which the estate did not appreciate.