Mason Betha, the rapper formerly known as Ma$e, is now a pastor at El Elyon International Church in Atlanta.

[FLASHBACK: Set Up for a Come-Back? Is Mason Betha Returning to Rap?]

Ma$e and his wife, Twyla have their own Atlanta congregation online and off.? The couple spends a lot of time talking about happy marriages and even sells a video for a ?successful marriage? series on the church?s website.

[READ: What do Ma$e, Montel Jordan & Marlo Hampton All Have in Common?]

But while Pastor Betha and his wife publicly portrayed the face of a happily married church couple, they were also battling it out in divorce court!

Details below…

TMZ obtained a divorce filing from Ma$e dated Jan. 2, 2014 and it seems

Mase asked for full custody of their two kids and even wanted HER to pay HIM child support.

He claims they separated August 2013 — after 12 years of marriage.

But just over a month later — the day before Valentine’s Day — Mase inexplicably had a change of heart, filing to dismiss his divorce petition.

The fiasco is priceless — if you look at the website for Mase’s El Elyon International Church in Atlanta … the entire thing is built around his successful relationship with his wife. The two even hawk their “successful marriage” book series called “What Do You Do After I Do?”

And the book description is perfect: “In this series, Mason and Twyla Betha share keys to build a marriage that will last a lifetime.”

Define “lifetime.”

We reached out to the Mase and his church … radio silence.

Maybe the divorce filing was actually Ma$e’s key to ‘build a marriage that will last a lifetime’. They’re still together right?

What do you think of Mason Betha’s divorce/happy marriage strategy?