It's a news flash with an asterisk: Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen has resigned from the mega church that he has led since 1999, a move promoted by his decision to leave the Christian faith due to his "lack of faith". The asterisk is needed, mind you, because the story is completely false.
Who ever devised this elaborate hoax didn't just stop at a fake church website, which looks very identical to the genuine Joel Osteen Ministries website www.joelosteen.com.
The hoaxer also put up a bogus news sites trumpeting the hoax, replicating news outlets that include CNN, Yahoo and Christian News Network. Along with a bogus twitter page and YouTube video.
The internet is full of hoax like this, but why did this one get so much credit? Because we've now entered into a time when we all stare and applaud when the "big ones" fall. It's almost an expectation of the world. We've seen it so many times before. Society champion failure, rather we admit it or not. It's the train wreck effect - you know it said, but you'll stand there and watch
Rest assure, this hoax will only have one outcome - more people being aware of Joel Osteen Ministries. Might not be such a bad hoax after all, this world may need a little more smiling preacher.
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