Because of our work with engaging the local art scene through First Fridays and The 815, Cheech (who is taking on the role of Visual Arts Director for The 815) and I have been invited to go on KZUM (89.3 FM) tomorrow (Tuesday, 5/11) evening from 6-7pm on “Blog Talk Live” with Dennis Kornblugh.  Dennis is the guy behind StarCity Blog and he and I have built a good friendship over the last five months.  He has invited us to talk about The 815, art, 2 Pillars, and how they all come together.  Tune-in if you’d like to hear and learn more about what is behind the work and vision of using The 815 as a community venue to serve local artists and musicians.

Spread the word if there are folks who you think might find this interesting.  And finally, please be praying for us as we put ourselves out there tomorrow evening.

2 Pillarites: We will be having a baptism celebration this Sunday (4/18) at 4:30pm.  We will be meeting on a roof-top deck in downtown Lincoln – 14th and O Street above Sandy’s.  You can enter from the 14th street side under the ATO Computer sign.  We’ll get a sign on the door that says “2 Pillars” to make it easier to find. When you get there, go all the way up the stairs to the roof.  Hope to see you there.

This past Friday night we opened the doors of The 815 to welcome and serve the artist community here in downtown Lincoln.  This is not a way for us to promote 2 Pillars or to “get the word out” about who we are – it is simply a way to serve the local artists.  Since our rent is paid, we are able to offer zero-overhead gallery space to them meaning that they take full proceeds from all of their sales.

This was the first time that we have done this and it was a complete success.  We hosted the local group “Artists on the Edge” in the main level and two local photographers, Rob Liliedahl and Keri Hess, in the lower level.  We also hosted a local guitarist, Luke Sticka.  All totaled, we are estimating that over 400 artists and patrons visited The 815 Friday night.

Our desire, going forward, is to continue to host the Artists on the Edge group on a regular basis in the main level space and to rotate up-and-coming local artists that are trying to get their feet under them in the lower level.

There were a lot of people who came together to help pull this off – both from within 2 Pillars and many from outside of 2 Pillars.  I’d like to personally thank the folks from outside of 2 Pillars that helped to get the word out: Lincoln Journal Star, Star City Blog, Week Fifty Two, ToDoInThisTown.com, The Daily Nebraskan, and Channel 8 News.

If you’ve never heard of the First Friday Art Walks in Lincoln, you may find this post from my friend Thaddeus Fonck helpful: What is First Friday? You can also find a map of all of the participating galleries here.

Come check it out next month.  You can also take a little mini tour of the night by checking out our First Friday photo stream.

As a reminder, we will be gathering for worship tonight instead of a regular Whiteboard Session.  We will not be having a meal this time, so come ready to worship at 6pm. We will be in the main level of The 815 and will have stuff for the little ones downstairs.  This will be our first time worshiping together as a developing body.  I hope you join us.

Due to the size of the mailing list, I am having some trouble getting our March update emailed out to everyone (gmail isn’t playing nice).  In light of that, I am posting a video update here and will try again to get the email out in a day or two.

Click here for a larger view.  You can also view it on YouTube here.

Mars Hill-Bellevue Campus out in Bellevue, Washington, is one of our supporting churches.  Recently, they added a “Who We Support” page to their campus website featuring 2 Pillars church and two other churches that are directly supported.  Check it out on the Mars Hill-Bellevue Campus webpage.

This Sunday I will be preaching at Coram Deo up in Omaha.  Coram Deo is a Strategic Partner of Project 2 Pillars and a part of the Acts 29 Network.  If you live in the Lincoln or Omaha area, Coram Deo meets at Suckau Chapel on the campus of Grace University at 9am and 11am – I would love to see you there.  If you need directions, check out the ones provided on the Coram Deo website.

Friday

• 9:30am flight from St. Louis to Omaha.
• Met Walt Mosely, director of Converge Heartland, for a long lunch.  Walt and I have chatted via phone in the past, but wanted to meet face-to-face as we continue to explore the possibility of partnering with their organization.
• Headed over to the offices of Core Community Church and prepped for the first fundraising even of the weekend.  Core was also gracious enough to put me up in their nice digs Friday night.
• 7pm – fundraiser event.  One dude showed up.  Talked with him for nearly 3 hours.  Great conversation and great love for seeing the gospel infiltrate the lives of men.
• Worked on writing Vision Video segments for the next day.

Saturday

• Woke early and drove to Lincoln to meet a guy named Jason at 7:30am.  This guy currently rents the main level of a building that we’re looking at leasing.  We talked about the possibility of sub-leasing his space on Sunday mornings and he was open to it.
• 8:30am – met with Tobey Brockman, pastor of Redeemer (PCA) in Lincoln.  Redeemer is a fairly young church plant themselves and I look forward to getting to know Tobey and find ways for 2 Pillars to partner with them for the glory of the gospel in Lincoln.
• 10am – met up with several guys and did a second walk-through at some space we’re looking to lease in the downtown area.  the walk-through went really well and I’m hopeful that this space will work out for us.  Stay tuned.
• 12pm – 5:30pm – shot a Vision Video with my friend Jason Nabb of Purelight Productions there in Lincoln.  We shot video at multiple places and I really look forward to seeing how the final project comes together.
• 7pm – Fundraising event at red9.  No one showed. I’ll be posting more thoughts and reflections on this later this week or next.  Basically, I want to blog on: what happens when no one shows?
• 8pm – 11pm – hung out with McCray in his office and listened to him crank some music on the keys.  Jason Nabb joined us with his guitar.  Good times.
• Concluded the night with some wings with McCray and then crashed at my buddy Tom’s place.

Sunday

• Up early, drove to Omaha, caught a 9:30am flight back to St. Louis.
• Made it to Summit in time for the 11am membership class.
• Worked on the house from noon until 9pm.  Getting it all ready for market.