The order of transformations in OpenGL is the opposite order thenthan for DirectX. For DirectX its the SRT-Rule: Scale, Rotate, Translate - for OpenGL its: Translate, Rotate, Scale
glPushMatrix();
// move entity to its position
glTranslate(...);
// rotate entity around its origin
glRotate(...);
// drawn entity
DrawEntity();
glPopMatrix();
DrawEntity must render the entity using its local space coordsystem, they are fixed if there is no animation.
If that doesnt answer your question, please rephrase it and elaborate.