campaign trying to get a hold of somebody he says was essentially inaccessible so he created a fake joel olsteennn and drudge, pastor of mega church resigned, and olsteen saying i'm no longer a christian, that the bible has been a history book altered and in fact there is zero evidence that god even exists, now, justice trebil is claiming to be the man behind it trying to convince olsteen who address more serious issue, the environment and the obama administration's attempt to dismantle the second amendment. here he is on good morning america. >> i'm a big fan of joel olsteen, i like him, listen to him, i didn't want to hurt the guy or defame him. i wanted a message to get through to this guy, tone down this and get real. >> joel olsteen says he was mildly amused. >> i read that, too, a part of me felt na as well, that somebody wanting to create a stir, i didn't feel any ill-will toward me, that's the way i am. i think that somebody wanted to create something and get some attention which they're getting right now. >> trace: the hoaxster says he's gotten response from christians and nonchristians

joel olsteen may be america's best known preacher next to billy graham. senior pastor at the massive lakewood church in houston, the televangelist has over 7 million viewers every week in over 100 countries. so when it appeared he renounced the faith, it got an awful lot of people talking. turns out is 2 a hoax to get the mega pastor to change his message. tonight, abc's david wright on the man who says he was behind the plot. >> you got what it takes. this is your moment. the promise is in you. >> reporter: he's the born-again tony robbins. >> god wants you to be celebrated. >> reporter: preaching the prosperity gospel in best selling books and hopeful homilees. >> you're beautiful, you're strong. >> reporter: one of the best known evangelical pastors. so for joel osteen to quit? but more than that, to quit because he was rejecting his faith? that's news. >> joel rejects his faith, doesn't believe in christ anymore. that seems like that's a bigger attention-grabbing than just about anything else you could say. >> reporter: it was news to osteen. >> peopl

did celebrity mega pastor joel olsteen call the bible fake and renounce his faith?

an online hoax was launched against a mega church pastor joel olsteen. >> it said he was abandoning his this off. >> before god will release big blessings he will give you small tests. >> reporter: every sunday, joel osteen proclaims his faith in front of his texas mega church with an audience of millions watching at home and online. >> do you believe the lord is good tonight, yeah. >> reporter: imagine when people saw this official looking website with the special announcement allegedly from the pastor reading i am leaving the christian faith. the site is elaborate with a youtube video, featuring ominous music and pictures of news stories on cnn and drudge. there is even an accompanying twitter account and this message, supposedly from pastor joel declaring there is zero evidence the bible is the holy word of god in fact there is zero evidence god even exists. one big problem here is the real joel osteen says none of this is true. >> all is well. i still have my faith. nothing changed. >> reporter: we spoke with the pastor who said he finds this mildly amusing. >> i am not angry. i don

joel olsteen says he's not having a crisis of faith.to put out false stories that olsteen renounced christianity. who needs physical education class when you have hallway swimming. it's the latest silly internet fab. moving on now. magician rich ferguson has taken his prank on the road. take a look. some people who were startled by the creepy chair but one woman turned around and actually hugged him. i don't know. creeped me out. it's 8:06. let's go back outside to matt and hoda. >> here's that line. >> nobody is decked in there. >> where is al roker and let's get a check of the weather. >> right over here. got a love family, the thompson family. where are you from? >> georgia. >> you're in trouble, dad. got to tell you. you are in big trouble. let's check your weather and see what we got going on. we got a big storm system right now bringing a lot of snow in the rockies into the plains. parts of the dakotas could be look at anywhere from 12 to 18 inches of snow or more. so it's going to be tough. almost blizzard-like conditions. ahead

i went to a joel olsteen gathering at yankee stadium, filled to capacity, every age, ethnicity, socioeconomic, what was the common denominator? hope. there's nothing wrong with the citizens. i think we have to get the leadership to catch the thing called ho ad then deliver. >> however, maybe could speak a second so those who didn't raise your hand this morning. i'm one of those. i didn't quite have the gumption or courage, whatever it was, to put my name on the ballot, but i've been fortunate to be one of the lucky people that have been able to serve in government, and i served as a noncareer or political aappointment -- appointee for ten years of my life. it enriched my life and met people i never thought possible. we have something unique in the political system, not true of many democracies, but we have a lot of noncareer io.tee positions. at the federal level, it's 3 # ,000 full-time and 18 part-time. it's the same in the local and state government. i would encourage you those, who maybe don't want to put your name on the ballot, just get involved with a campaign, in some way, or serve in