Tony was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended Moody Bible Institute and graduated from Emmaus Bible College with a B.S in Biblical Studies. After some fighting Tony finally gave in to God and went to Denver Seminary. He holds a M.A. in Youth and Family Ministry.
He has experience in speaking, teaching, and counseling, and has been a youth pastor and a pastor of Christian education.
Tony is the author of, God Has His Reasons, and several discipleship oriented curriculum.
One thing that is true of Tony is that he will open and share his heart and he will invite you into the struggles, pain, joy, and hope that comes in the life of followers of Jesus.
Tony battles Multiple Sclerosis and Bipolar Disorder everyday and has unique understanding of what it means to be a Christian man with a disability. It can be frustrating and painful, but as Paul said of his thorn, "My (God's) grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."
Tony has two adult sons one which is married (Go look at the Tony pics at Meet Tony)
Some interesting things about Tony:
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He is left handed, very left handed. His motto is: Left handers aren't born forwards or backwards. Left handers are born odd-wards.
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He has 4 screws in his lower jaw (2 in each jaw. It was part of his orthodontic work, and no, he doesn't set airport metal detectors off.)
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He is a HUGE IOWA HAWKEYE WRESTLING fan.
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His favorite authors are: C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Francis Shaeffer, and Philip Yancey.
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His music tastes are quite varied. So is his movie interests (Although given the choice of a movie or documentary he will watch the documentary)
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Tony grew up liking archaeology, sociology, and anthropology. He settled on theology, but he still likes them all.
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There is a very good chance that Tony is the only Anthony Edward Gael in the world. How's that for being unique?
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He has held a 2002 Winter Olympics torch.
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He has a black and white guinea pig named Thatcher (Named after England PM Lady Margret Thatcher)
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As of this writing Tony has not thrown up in almost two decades!