Links...
Derek: I don't know. I've played a lot of colleges over the years. I probably had a similiar - not similiar in detail - but similiar to Chris' story. I mean, years ago, when Caedmon's played at Duke University - it may have been our first time out there and we were playing outside in one of the quads between the buildings - and it was a big free outdoor show like on a flatbed kind of deal. And all these people - all these kids were pouring out of the parties that were happening all over campus. And we were just playing music so everybody was coming out. And we sold a bunch of CDs that night but as we were kind of mingling around trying to figure out who was there, there were these guys coming up you know and kind of saluting us with their alcohol and using all kinds of curse words, you know? But they had these records in their hands and you know they were kind of falling all over themselves but they seemed to really enjoy the show and they walked away with a bunch of records I guess. Unlike a lot of my friends who are believers, these people are not filtering themselves they are being completely honest about how they feel. They are expressing themselves in whatever way that they know how. Christians - all we do - I mean ALL we do is filter ourselves. Especially as an artist you feel like there is so little honest communication that gets out of us on the whole because we're scared to death because we've got records to sell and this is a commercial business. If I'm really myself, I guarantee you my record sales are going to stop because no one wants to buy records by me ...
Darlene: I do! I wanna buy a record by you!
all: laughing
Derek: But you'll want to buy more if I can convince you I'm a really, really good person.
all: laughing
Derek: And so anyway, these people were like - it was just coming right out of them. It was kind of beautiful actually.
Darlene: You know last year our church praise and worship album when we released it, it went to number one on the secular charts in our nation. So there was the 'Kylie Minogues' and all of that. So at this awards ceremony, they showed videos of these artists, you know, real big mainstream artists, and they came and accepted their number one - "Yay!" Kylie Minogue - "Yay!" Nelly - "Yay!" HillSong Church - Silence.
all: laughing
Darlene: And I was like, "Yayyy!" It was pretty bizarre because you stand up in front of the secular music industry and you get your award and they go, "So, who are you?"
all: laughing
Darlene: It was just a fantastic thing and I love that.
I work with a lot of youth and teens and I have heard this question so many times here lately and have tried to answer it to the best of my ability, so I wanted to get your input on it. Some of these young people coming to me are churched kids, unchurched kids, preachers kids, deacons kids, etc. The question being, "I know how to talk the talk. I know how to say all the right things" - especially the deacon's kids - "I have to say all the right things...but I don't feel anything. I don't know how to make that connection. I don't know how to walk the walk because I don't see the path. What do I do?" I try to tell them, it's one day, one step at a time. God never lays it all out for you. You have to have that little bit of faith to start with. But in terms of a 12 step program, and how to get to it, I don't know?
Chris: I'd start by saying that God is huge. With 6 and a half billion people on the planet, there are no two people that are going to be in the exact same spot in faith. There's a whole spectrum there. How do you approach God? How do you reach God? How do you know if He's there? I've approached this topic in my music. I've approached it in my interaction with students. There are some that want to feel something, or see something or hear something, "God told me", or "I felt close to God" or "I felt this..." - I've never been that kind of guy. It's always been - in the sense of my faith being - like at the end of Matthew, Jesus says, "I'm with you always"...I'm banking on that! He didn't say, "You'll feel me with you always", or "You'll hear me with you always", or "You'll see me with you always" - He said "I'm with you always." 
And so, I think it's just a matter of saying - to students especially - "You know what, God knows your heart. God knows where you are." Don't look for a formula, "I've got to experience the way so-and-so experiences it." Approach God with your honest and real self - that's the best we have. We can pretend all we want but we're not fooling him at all. That's why David can say to God in Psalm 69, "My eyes fail me looking for my God...my throat is parched crying out for help" He's saying to God, "Where are you? I don't feel anything! I'm not getting a response here." That's as much worship as saying, "You are holy, worthy, and merciful God" because we're taking our real self and approaching the throne with our real self. So, I'd just encourage kids, "Don't look for a formula, just approach God, how you know how. And here's truth to wrap yourself around, and here's the word of God to help lead us through, and let's explore this together." Let's not just have a pat answer of "This is how it works..."