2D meshes in 3D

Hi,

I was wondering why I am not getting any results when I have a mesh that is using homogeneous coordinates (x,y,z,w) where z=0.0f?

I looked at the NeHe tutorial which looks at rendering text onto a 2D quad and put in the code to set up an orthographic projection and then to draw the mesh and then to go back to perspective. This works for a little while, then the mesh disappears.

Anyway, is there a way to render my mesh with homogeneous coords without having to mess with the projection?

Thanks,
Luke A. Guest.