Can a True Believer Sing Secular Songs and still Worship God from a pure and worshipful heart?

I  faced a six hour drive on my return home from spending the Thanksgiving Day holiday with my husband. So, first I made sure our seven-year-old son was comfortable in the back seat. I was hoping he would recline and possibly take a nap. Next, I stacked my favorite compact discs (Cd's) by my side. If I sang along to each 2-hour CD the drive might seem to go by faster. 

The first CD I put in immediately lulled my son to sleep. However, the slow melody was incidentally calming me too.  So, I switched the CD for the next one in the stack. Christmas favorites. All slow songs again! I had chosen all slow songs for the drive. What was I going to do now? 

I turned the radio on. Maybe I could find a contemporary Christian radio station. As the digital scanner ran through each station, I noticed a pattern. All of the stations that came in clear were in Spanish. Then finally, one English station tuned onto my radio. The DJ said, "Oldies..." A song from my childhood began to play. I hadn't listened to anything but Christian radio for the past three years. So, I wondered how I would feel while listening to a disco song from the 80's. 

The song, "Never knew love like this before," by Stephanie Mills had me immediately sitting up straight and bouncing to the beat. Soon, I found myself singing along. And as I sang, I thought about my relationship with Christ. I began to picture singing the song to the Lord as though He was sitting to my right in the passenger seat. By the time the second verse began to play, my eyes welled with tears and I was struggling to keep my eyes open, but for very different reason.   

Never Knew Love Like This Before-
Stephanie Mills
I never knew love like this before

Now I'm lonely never more

Since you came into my life
You are my lovelight, this I know
And I'll never let you go
Your my all, you're part of me

Once I was lost and now I'm found
Then you turned my world around
When I need you, I call your name

I had hoped to change the station and return to listening to my Christian favorites after the song ended. However, when the next song started to play, I found myself once again singing along. The song was released when I was a young girl at a time when I spent many hours in a roller rink skating with friends. Back then, I attended church regularly. Yet, I had no faith.  I would have thought these two disco songs would spark memories from my childhood. Instead, I was lost in a moment of worshipping the Lord our God. 

Forgetting how foolish I might look to other drivers on the road, at one point, I raised my left hand in the air as I worshiped the Lord. All the while, I sang, "Ain't no Stopping us Now, we're on the move!" This time I imaged myself singing as part of a choir made up of newly saved Christians as I sang,

Ain't no stoppin' us now, We're on the move Ain't no stoppin' us now, We've got the groove Ain't no stoppin' us now,We're on the move Ain't no stoppin' us now, We've got the groove 

I know you know someone who's got a negative vibe And if you're trying to make it they only push you aside They really don't have nowhere to go Ask 'em where they're going, they don't know But we won't let nothing hold us back We gonna put ourselves together. We're gonna polish up our act. And if you've ever been held down before, I know that you refuse to be held down any more.

Don't you let nothing nothing, stand in your way
I want you to listen, listen To every word I say, every word I say

I listened to a few more songs, all the while imagining my Savior by my side. Time flew by. And as I pulled up to our home, I was still enjoying the intimacy of God's presence. 

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