Much to their collective surprise, they won. “We just worshipped and played songs like we always do,” says Huguley. “We just try to share our hearts. We’re in this for God’s glory.”

The group began fielding offers from record labels, and signed with Midas Records, a Nashville-based company that also has a country division that has enjoyed chart-topping success with the group Emerson Drive. Even before the full album was released, the single, “Undo,” began climbing the charts. By the time the Christian music industry convened in April 2007 for the annual Gospel Music Week festivities, the song had gone to No. 1.

“Our radio promoter, Chris Hauser, came us to us and said, ‘No one has a clue who you are, but you’ve got the No. 1 song in the country this week,’” recalls Huguley. “God is so big and so funny to use normal guys like us to bring him glory. We’re honored.”

Though No. 1 songs are wonderful affirmation, the greatest reward is seeing people touched by their music. “There was a guy named Michael who walked out on his wife and kids to be with another woman,” says Willis. “Somebody sent him the lyrics to ‘Undo’ and he started weeping and went back home. We had nothing to do with that. We’re just what God used to put that song out.”

Willis also relates the story of a woman who was contemplating suicide and then heard “Undo,” and the message in the song helped her turn her life around. “God just used that song to shake her and say ‘You’ve got so much more to live for,” says Willis. “We’re totally humbled by that.”

When asked what it is about them that resonates so strongly with their audience, Willis responds, “People tell us all the time through emails, online or at our shows that it’s so refreshing to hear lyrics that really just touch the core of who they are. I grew up in a Christian community and had lots of songs touch my life, so I can relate.”

Both men say that God has taught them so much in the last year. Huguley, who is married, says God has taught him more about being a good husband. That’s a role Willis will be assuming next summer as he marries his girlfriend of six years; the two have been dating since she was 14 and he was 15.

Another important relationship in their lives is the connection they have with their audience. Huguley says they are always eager to point them in the right direction. “We’ve had to crawl into this position very humbly with a little bit of fear and trembling,” he says. “Sometimes people seem to have the wrong impression and [are] just falling at our feet. Ws a worship band we don’t want that at all. We want people to fall at Jesus’ feet and worship him.”

Deborah Evans Price is a writer and critic well-versed in both Christian and Country music. She has written for the likes of Billboard, Brandweek, and the Chicago Sun-Times.