David Santistevan, Author at Beyond Sunday Worship

Feb 03 2014

The Day My Daughter Was Born: A Letter For The Rest Of Your Life

375690_10152209080077112_1466605430_n This post may not be your usual worship leading fare, but it’s an honest snapshot at where my life is today.

When my son was born 19 months ago, I wrote a blog post to him – heartfelt words from a new Father.

Eliana Joy Santistevan was born on Wednesday, January 29, weighing 8 lbs 3 oz.

Having a child is a total miracle. Worries of how you’ll perform as a parent are overwhelmed as you look into their eyes and you know it’s going to be OK. Kids call you to a higher level of living.

This is God’s miracle, God’s will, and God’s favor will follow those who trust in Him.

[Read more…]

Jan 27 2014

How To Handle Auditions When You Have To Say “No”

It started out with an email and ended in heartbreak.

You know what I’m talking about. A beautiful soul with total confidence wants to join your worship team as a vocalist. The only problem is, they can’t sing.

And it’s not always that they cannot sing. It may be that their vocal tone just isn’t of a pleasing quality. In this case, there was no sense of pitch.

I was really hoping they were amazing so I could smile, affirm them, and offer them a spot on our worship team.

But I couldn’t do that. I had to be honest. Right there at the audition.

And this person left mad. In their mind, they were the cat’s pajamas of church vocalists.

If you’re a worship leader, you’ve been in this situation. If you haven’t, expect to in the near future. How do you handle a conversation like this? What is the best way to speak the truth without breaking hearts?

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Jan 24 2014

Is Your Worship Leading Too Professional?

The longer I lead worship, the more I see a problem.

I’m a professional worshiper. I get paid to be at church.

It’s my job to lead people in worship. I know how to “clock” it in, get it done well, and move on.

And you know where this hurts the most?

People can be blessed by my worship leading and have no idea my prayer life doesn’t exist. People can look up to me as a “man of God” but they don’t know that I haven’t read my Bible in a month.

I’m a professional – I know how to fake the spiritual life. But the truth is I can kid everyone except the one who matters most.

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Jan 22 2014

#28: How To Give Your Songwriting The Momentum It Needs [Podcast]

If you’re a human and you’re a songwriter, you’ve been there before.

You’ve been to that place where you want to throw in the towel – where you feel your work is awful and not worth anyone’s ears. You’ve been to that place where ideas happen, but finishing seems foreign. It seems impossible to call a song “done”.